


Fall Out Poke Boy

by HeavenlyYours



Category: Bandom, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: I WAS ON SPRING BREAK AND I WROTE STUFF I JUST NEED TO TYPE IT OK, M/M, but also a person, frank iero is a pokemon fellas, it works out, ok there will be waY MORE TAGS LATER BUT I FEEL BAD FOR NOT POSTING, so it won't let me tag pete's dad but pete's dad is a character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-01-06 23:23:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18398453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeavenlyYours/pseuds/HeavenlyYours
Summary: Do you ever wonder what would happen if four really cool guys got together and made a band called Fall Out Boy? You shouldn't, because that already happened. BUT IT GETS COOLER BECAUSE NOW THEY HAVE POKEMONNNNNThis used to be posted on an account I shared with someone on wattpad under the name bandsssssa, but then i switched it over to my account, LadyFallOutBoy, but then I deleted that account, and now it's here! So don't accuse me of plagiarizing my own work!





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Ok!! This was written several years ago when writing stories about band members consumed my entire life. I'll probably get back into that because it's fun!
> 
> HOWEVER
> 
> The caveat with that is that if I find out that anyone has been using my fics as a reason to spam the band members and demand them to fulfill the gay glory I write about, I will block you and then I'll send cows to crap all over your stuff. I mean it. You can enjoy my fics as an outlet to release your own gay crisis, but the band members have real lives and spouses and harassing them is unacceptable. So basically don't send them my fics saying bE gAy Or SuFfErrrrrrr because that's rude. Don't be rude. Be loud and proud but not rude.
> 
> Enjoy this epic story!!!

Patrick's alarm went off as usual. When he turned over to smack the clock into silence, he saw the calendar, with all of the days crossed off leading up to -  
His eyes flew open. It was the day! The day that he and Brendon would choose their first Pokemon and begin a journey of totally epic proportions. Frantically, he threw on his glasses, tried to comb his hair, gave up, and chose his favorite fedora. Then he grabbed his phone, about to call Brendon, only to see Brendon pop up on the caller ID. He picked up.  
"PATRICK WE'RE ABOUT TO BECOME REAL LIVE TRAINERS!!" Brendon screamed in his ear.  
"I KNOW!" Patrick yelled back. "I'LL BE OUTSIDE IN FIVE MINUTES!"  
"GREAT!" Brendon shouted cheerfully. "Oh, and Pat?"  
"Yeah?"  
"Don't forget pants like you did when the Gym Leader of Church City came to school."  
Patrick turned scarlet. He looked down, and saw no pants, just Charizard boxers. Whoops. "I won't."  
He could almost hear Brendon smirking through the phone. "I'm sure." He hung up. After putting on pants and a clean shirt (Jesus, Brendon had to remind him to get dressed), Patrick raced downstairs, where his adoptive mother was waiting.  
"Hey Patrick," she grinned. "Ready to take on the world?"  
"Morning Maria," Patrick smiled back. Maria Brink was the Gym Leader of Blood City, but she had taken an extended leave of absence to be Patrick's mom. She specialized in smoldering fire types and making pancakes. "Are you going back to Blood City after I leave?"  
"I'm going to do a little refresher with my team in Church City, but yes, I do plan on going back," Maria handed him a plate of PokeBall Pancakes - basically pancakes with a strawberry upper half and a vanilla bottom half. Yumm. "Brendon coming to breakfast?"  
Patrick, who had half of the pancakes in his mouth already, shrugged.  
"Hi Patrick's mom!" said Brendon from the doorway. Patrick gestured in the general direction of the doorway. "I smelled your pancakes on my way here."  
"Hi Brendon," Maria said. "Yes, there are still pancakes."  
"Sweet!" Brendon ran inside, then paused. "Uh, may I have some pancakes?"  
"Yes you may," Maria nodded approvingly. Once everyone had eaten about five pancakes, Maria asked, "What type will you be starting with?"  
"Fire," Brendon said instantly. "They just brought in some Chimchars from Sinnoh."  
"Atta boy," Maria high-fived him. "Patrick?"  
"Not sure," Patrick said nervously. "There are a lot of good looking ones."  
"It's okay," Maria said soothingly. "I didn't know until I met Charmander that I would specialize in fire types."  
"Well, we'd better get going Patrick," Brendon said, putting his plate in the sink. "Or all of the good ones will be gone."  
"Okay," Patrick hugged Maria. "Bye Maria. See you in Blood City!"  
"See you then," Maria hugged tighter. "Don't forget to call."  
"I won't," promised Patrick, even though he probably would. "Bye!"  
"Love you!" cried Maria.  
"Love you too!" Patrick said, then waved as he and Brendon walked out the door into the very empty streets of Metal Town (worst name ever, said everyone, all the time). Once they were in a spot where no one could see them, they began jumping up and down and dancing.  
"We're almost Trainers!" Patrick whispered gleefully.  
"This is all so sudden," Brendon ran a hand through his rugged-yet-put-together hair. "I think I'm second guessing my decision to take a Chimchar. What if it doesn't like me?" He gulped. "It'll be like Indian food, but roasting my outsides instead of my insides."  
"You're not going to become a curry side dish," Patrick said. "Besides, it's not like there will be only one Chimchar in the entire lab. You'll do fine."  
Some color returned to Brendon's cheeks (he had turned rather pasty). "Thanks," he said. "Look, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."  
"Okay," Patrick said slowly. Brendon looked really uncomfortable. "What is it?"  
"A couple weeks ago, I, uh," Brendon was distinctly avoiding looking at Patrick. "I was on a website that gets groups of Trainers together, and I met this guy Ryan. Ryan Ross. Anyway, I'm doing my journey with Ryan."  
Patrick wasn't sure he heard him right. Surely Brendon wasn't saying that he was doing his Pokemon journey, the adventure they had been planning since they could say Pokemon, without him?  
"I know," Brendon said, reading it in Patrick's face. "But...God. We can still be friends, we'll just do separate journeys. I mean, when I was chatting with Ryan, I could feel this really deep connection. It transcended any other connection I'd ever felt."  
"Even ours?" Patrick asked quietly. "I thought we were best friends, Brendon."  
"Pat -"  
"No, I don't want to hear it," Patrick closed his eyes. "Have a good journey, Brendon." And he walked away.


	2. The Gang Begins to Form

Patrick spent the next hour hiding in a tree. He had wandered back into the forest near the Pokemon lab (because he could get lost in his own home, let's not even talk about the wilderness) and found an empty tree big enough for a tiny human to fit in. Then he curled up into a tiny ball and tried to ignore the world.  
Fucking Brendon. How could he do this? Years of friendship, just tossed out the window. All for some random guy named Ryan Ross. What a lame name. So ordinary. Ryan probably didn't have a fedora, let alone a favorite one. Patrick felt slightly better after this realization.  
"Um, excuse me?" said a new voice. "You're kind of in my tree."  
Patrick's eyes flew open. Standing there was a thin guy with a distant expression. His dark hair looked messy, like he hadn't brushed it in a while. On his shoulder was a very cheerful looking Drifloon.  
"Crap, I'm sorry," Patrick fell out of the tree. Ow. "I didn't know this was -" he winced (note to self: stop falling out of trees). " - this was your tree."  
"It's okay," the guy shrugged. "But are you?"  
"I hope so," Patrick winced, rubbing his head.  
"Let's get you to the lab," the guy said. "It's not that far."  
"Okay," Patrick said. He wasn't thinking clearly, or otherwise he would have remembered what Maria had always told him: don't go places with strangers. They'll probably sell you to - no. He couldn't even say it in his head. "Who are you again?"  
"I don't believe I said, but I'm Joe," said Joe.  
"Are you average?"  
"What?"  
"Are you an average Joe?"  
"Jesus Christ, kid. No wonder you were hiding in a tree."  
Patrick blushed. He had thought it was funny. But Joe was grinning. "Sorry, Joe."  
"It's cool. What's your name? I want to make bad puns too."  
Patrick smiled. "Patrick."  
"Okay, Saint Patrick. You ought to be wearing more green than that, laddie!"  
Patrick, despite his anger about Brendon, snickered. Brendan had Ryan? Screw him. He had Joe.  
The Pokemon lab loomed overhead, and Patrick froze in awe. It looked so majestic, with the light of the sun shining on it and Brendon standing like a warrior with a Chimchar at his side...WTF. Brendon was still here!? He dove behind a tree, despite odd looks from Joe.  
"Tell me when he's gone," he hissed to Joe. Joe glanced up.  
"Kid with the forehead bigger than Asia?"  
"Yeah."  
"Reason why you were hiding in the tree?"  
"Yeah."  
Joe let out a breath. "Look, I have literally known you for like, five minutes. But you seem like a cool guy. And cool guys don't hide behind trees while kids with excessively large foreheads walk in the sun. Go challenge him! Show him you're strong!" Motivating music played at the end of Joe's speech.  
Patrick considered it. Did he really need Brendon? Was he that weak? A tidal wave of rage rose inside of him. Why was he acting like the one to blame? Brendon left, not him. He didn't need to hide in shame. He would continue forth, in full glory, with his new friend Joe by his side. As he stood up, he began to mutter, "And it's mind over you, don't, don't matter..." Only Brendon knew that he liked to sing.  
"You sing?" Joe asked as they walked towards the Pokemon lab. Patrick started. "You said it out loud." Joe clarified that last bit.  
"Oh, yeah," Patrick looked away, embarrassed.  
"I can play guitar," Joe smiled modestly.  
"That's cool," Patrick grinned. "Hey, once I get my Pokemon, would you want to, uh, go on a Pokemon journey together?"  
"Hell yeah!" Joe yelled. "Sorry. It's just...no one's ever asked me to go on a journey with them before."  
"Why?" Patrick was bewildered.  
"They think I'm either a stoner or I'll kill them all in their sleep," Joe said matter-of-factly. They were passing by Brendon as Joe said this, and Patrick saw Brendon look stricken. But he said nothing.  
"I don't care," Patrick said firmly. He grinned. "I know a lot about Pokemon."  
Joe smirked back. "Well, I bet I know more about Pokemon."  
The doors swung open silently. A friendly looking young woman smiled.  
"Welcome to your local Pokemon lab!" she said perkily. "How may I -"  
"FREEDOM!" someone roared, and everyone leaped out of the way as something flew past them. Once it got out into the sunlight, they saw it was a guy in a trench coat, with a hook, and roller skates.  
"Pete!" the woman yelled. "The Professor said no skates in the lab!"  
But this Pete fellow either didn't hear or didn't care. Or both.  
"Sorry about Pete," the woman adjusted her cap. "He is something else...anyway. I'll take you to the Professor now."  
The woman led them down a hallway briskly, so Patrick barely had time to take it in. All of the doors had bright yellow signs that said 'Caution: Authorized Lab Personnel Only'. As they walked by one, a huge slam echoed through the hallway and a door bulged in the shape of a fist.  
"Holy smokes!" Patrick yelped.  
The woman barely glanced up. "Oh. Someone's doing more work with Hariyama."  
Eventually they reached a door with a 'Shh' face on it.  
"Why is there a 'Shh' face?" Joe whispered.  
"It's the Pokemon nursery," the woman whispered. "All the Eggs and babies are in there, so we must be quiet so that they're not disturbed. Understand?" They nodded. "Good." The woman slid an ID card in, and the door opened with a soft click.  
Inside, the room was soft pinks and blues. Cribs were sprinkled throughout the room, each with a baby Pokemon sleeping inside. A few tottered around, with a Trainer close behind.  
"They're so adorable!" Patrick squealed quietly. "How will I possibly choose one?"  
"You will feel..." the nurse paused, as though trying to remember. "You will feel...oh, forget it." She pulled out a note card. "You will feel a bond that transcends both time and space. A bond that connects the very core of your being to the Pokemon." She tucked it away. "Let's move on."  
She went over to another door marked 'Authorized Personnel Only'. Once again, she scanned her ID card and the door slid open silently. This room had soft classical music playing. Other than that, the room was quiet. While the other room had baby Pokemon, this room was full of Eggs. A monitor was attached to each Egg. In the corner, a man sat at a desk, examining an Egg.  
"Professor?" the woman whispered. "We have a boy who needs a Pokemon."  
The Professor stood up. Patrick wondered why he looked familiar, then realized that he bore a resemblance to the boy - Pete - who had almost turned him into a Patrick Pancake earlier. They both had dark hair and a thing for long coats. The Professor gestured for him to follow, and he led the group out of the nursery. He then turned to Patrick and smiled.  
"Welcome to the lab," he smiled. "I am Professor Wentz the 2nd. I used go by Professor Oak - then I found out that was already a thing. So I went back to using my given name. What's your name, son?"  
"Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the 3rd," said someone from behind Patrick. Turning around, Patrick saw it was the attempted Patrick Pancake Chef Pete. However, the hook and roller skates were gone. Turns out that Pete had a legit hand and pretty cool shoes. He was also wearing the tightest black pants that Patrick had ever seen and a T-shirt with markings designed to look like an Umbreon, all with the black trench coat over it. Overall, he looked defiant and ready for action.  
Professor Wentz sighed. "Pete, I wasn't talking to you."  
Pete feigned surprise and hurt. "You mean the world doesn't revolve around me? You should have said so earlier."  
The Professor tried to maintain composure. "Pete, I'm busy. Please irritate me later."  
"So you can lecture me about how Mom would have been so disappointed in what her beloved only son has been doing with his life?" Pete snapped. "Yeah, no thanks."  
Pain flashed across the Professor's face, but it vanished. "You can stay in here, just please be quiet." But Pete, already lost in memory, was silent. "Sorry, what was your name?"  
"Patrick Stump," Patrick said. Pete snorted.  
"What sort of last name is that?"  
"Well," Patrick succeeded in mustering up some cynicism in his voice. "My parents abandoned me when I was a baby, so when I was old enough for Maria to tell me, I decided that I was just a stump, so that was my last name." Pete looked reasonably shocked, which made Patrick feel pretty satisfied with himself.  
Joe was the first to speak. "Damn, Saint Patrick, you're -"  
"Really good at hiding the past," Pete finished. "You should give me some tips sometime." Patrick turned, expecting sarcasm, but Pete looked dead serious. Patrick nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure." Pete looked more content after that.  
"Okay," Professor Wentz said. "Patrick, let's go get you a Pokemon. Any that you don't want?"  
An image of Brendon appeared in Patrick's mind. "No Chimchars."  
"Okee dokie," The Professor entered the information into a keypad and then pressed a red button. "Just tell us when you find your Pokemon." Patrick nodded, and Professor Wentz opened the door to the nursery again, but the cribs were gone and all of the baby Pokemon were ready to meet him.  
Patrick went through Pokemon after Pokemon, waiting to feel that bond that the nurse had talked about. They were adorable, and he liked them, but it wasn't like his soul was connected.  
An Eevee wandered up to him. "Hey, little guy," Patrick patted its head. The Eevee wagged its tail, then promptly fell over. "Eevee!" it squealed. Then their eyes met.  
It was like a fire had roared to life in Patrick's very being. An invisible string had connected their souls. Patrick and Eevee were bonded for life. Suddenly, Eevee lit up. Of course. He finds his true Pokemon, and it gets incinerated. Then the light faded, and standing there was a pink and white Pokemon with blue ribbons. It looked at Patrick and seemed to smile. "Sylveon!" Its eyes though, were just like Eevee's, and Patrick still felt the connection, so he opened his arms, and in leaped Sylveon.  
Professor Wentz looked flabbergasted.  
Only Joe could talk. "Did it just evolve? Two seconds after meeting Patrick?"  
Professor Wentz could only nod.  
"Didn't you say that only happens with the truest bonds?" Pete asked his father. Once again, Professor Wentz could only nod. Pete winked at Patrick. "I'll make him talk. Watch." He raised his voice. "GayBoy strikes again, with his trusty sidekick, Conservative Father!"  
"That is not a thing," Professor Wentz snapped out of his stupor. "Really." Pete just rolled his eyes. "All right, Patrick. Let me go get you a Pokedex, and then you can go begin your journey." He bustled off.  
"Where's Drifloon?" Joe panicked and ran off to find him. Now only Patrick and Pete remained. Patrick shifted uncomfortably (he was terrible at small talk).  
"Yes, I'm really gay," Pete said.  
"What?"  
"I know that's what you were thinking," Pete said matter-of-factly. "It's okay. My mom freaked too."  
"Can you read minds?" Patrick asked. Pete laughed. He looked nice when he smiled.  
"No, I've just gotten really good at picking up vibes," Pete said. Now he shifted uncomfortably. "Hey Patrick?"  
"Yeah?"  
Pete muttered something unintelligible.  
"What?"  
"Can I go on a Pokemon journey with you?" Before Patrick could say anything, Pete rambled on. "Everyone's like, 'Oh that's Pete Wentz, he's crazy' and then everything got bad a couple of weeks ago when Ryan said he was going on a journey with some idiot named Brendan Urie -"  
"Hold up," Patrick froze. "Did you just say Brendon Urie?"  
"Yes, pay attention. Anyway, he jabbered on about bonds and crap -"  
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOUR BEST FRIEND RYAN ROSS DUMPED YOU TO GO ON A JOURNEY WITH MY BEST FRIEND BRENDON URIE?! DOES FRIENDSHIP MEAN NOTHING TO THESE PEOPLE!?" Patrick roared.  
"I know right?!" Pete agreed, and from then on, Pete was officially part of the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO CATCH MY SICK DRUNK HISTORY REFERENCES!!!


	3. The Arrival of Andy

"So where are we going?" Patrick asked again.  
"I don't know," Joe said tersely as he pored over a map. "Apparently, we're supposed to be on Route 2, but then Pete started chasing the emo butterfly and now we're lost."  
"It was totally emo!" Pete protested.  
"Woobat!" Pete's Woobat agreed. Woobat was Pete's going away present from Conservative Father. Ever since Pete had said that, Patrick only thought of him as Conservative Father and not as Professor Wentz.  
"Anyway, are we going to hit Blood City?" Patrick asked.  
"Yeah, but not for a while," Joe said, looking at Patrick. "Going to Blood City as a beginning Trainer would be suicide. Do you not know how strong Maria Brink is?"  
Patrick felt a surge of pride. "She raised me."  
Pete stared at Patrick. "You were raised by Maria Brink?"  
"Yeah."  
"Legendary Gym Leader whose Charizard smashed Gym Leader Andy Biersack's Zoroark so bad he cried, Maria Brink?"  
"Yeah."  
"Arguably one of the sexiest Gym Leaders to walk the region, Maria Brink?"  
"Yeah."  
Pete fell at Patrick's feet. "Oh great master, please let me earn the privilege of talking to your mom."  
"That's not smart to do in pants as tight as those," Patrick said. He started. "Oh crap, I forgot I have to call her."  
Pete looked ready to die. "Can I talk to her?"  
"Sure," Patrick pulled out his phone and hit the 1 button. It started dialing Maria's number.  
"Hello?"  
Patrick melted on the inside. He hadn't realized how much he missed Maria until he heard her voice. "Hey Maria."  
"Patrick! Oh, how good it is to hear from you!" Maria's voice oozed warmth. "Which Pokemon did you choose?"  
"Funny story..." Patrick told Maria how Sylveon had evolved literally two seconds after they met. Maria listened attentively.  
"Did Professor Wentz tell you Sylveon evolves based on high friendship?"  
"No."  
Maria snorted. "I see that he's still scatterbrained. Although I can't blame the poor man. Ever since his wife left... how's Brendon?"  
Patrick tensed. "Um...about that..."  
Maria caught on immediately. "He left, didn't he?"  
"Yeah."  
Maria's voice filled with rage. "He left you before giving you a chance to find someone to travel with? How irresponsible! Are you travelling alone?"  
"No -"  
"You could be kidnapped by the Crybabies!"  
"Maria, I'm travelling with Joe-Who's-Not-A-Stoner and Pete Wentz. They're cool."  
He could sense Maria calming down. "You're with them now?"  
"Yeah. Pete, actually, wants to talk to you." Pete mouthed 'Thank you' and seized the phone.  
"Hello? You're the real Maria Brink?"  
"Oh my God. I've been a fan ever since I saw you battle Andy Biersack."  
"I would love to meet you in real life."  
"I will train hard - Woobat and I will be awesome!"  
"Okay. Bye Miss Brink. Here's Patrick." Pete then fainted. Patrick smiled.  
"Hi," he said.  
"Your friend Pete is something."  
"I hear that a lot."  
"Can I talk to Joe?"  
"Yeah. Hold on a second. Joe!"  
"What?" Joe responded from his map.  
"My mom wants to talk to you." Joe took the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, Saint Patrick's mom. I'm Joe Trohman. Lovely to meet you."  
"Yes, I will make sure we are not kidnapped by the Crybabies."  
"Alright. See you in Blood City. Here's Saint Patrick." Joe handed the phone back.  
"Hey," Patrick said.  
"They're good boys. You picked well."  
"Thank you."  
"I'll see you when you come to Blood City."  
"See you then."  
"Any rumor of Crybaby activity, and you tell me, okay?"  
"Okay. Love you."  
"Love you too."  
"Bye." Patrick hung up.  
"Your mom's pretty nervous about the Crybabies," Joe commented, skimming the map.  
"She's heard of what they do to people they don't like," Patrick shrugged. "She doesn't want that to happen to me."  
The JBA stood for the Justin Bieber Association. Led by pop music outcast Justin Bieber, the JBA was intent on converting Trainers to their cause. People who had succumbed to the tortures inflicted upon them were often released, but all they could sing were strange songs about babies and boyfriends. Everyone was terrified of this mysterious organization and did whatever they could to eliminate them.  
"Okay, wake up Pete," Joe said. "There should be a rest stop nearby where we can get directions."  
"Wait, how should we wake him?" Patrick asked.  
"Cold water? Smelling salts?"  
Sylveon solved their problem by going over to Pete and tickling him with ribbons. Pete snapped awake.  
"What the -"  
"Joe knows where we're going," Patrick said. "So get your starstruck butt in gear and let's go." Pete did so, all the while grumbling about feistypants gingers.  
Joe led them through a series of trails and trees that made no logical sense, but he seemed to know where he was going. Every now and then, Patrick would glimpse a small forest Pokemon, who would rapidly scurry away once spotted. Patrick began to feel uneasy. What if Joe was a traitor and was selling them out to the Crybabies? No...he couldn't think like that.  
Eventually they reached a sign that stated very clearly (in cutesy print) Andy's Nature Funland! Pete looked horrified at the idea of something so very un-emo.  
"Joe, where are we?" Pete's voice wavered as he hugged Woobat closer. Joe looked a little too happy for Patrick's liking.  
"We're at Andy's," Joe said in pure, utter excitement. Patrick looked at Joe, too confused for life. Was he talking, like, Andy Biersack, Andy? "No, not Andy Biersack, you dummy!" He rushed inside. Pete and Patrick looked at each other like, Did Joe just say dummy? Then they followed him inside.  
"I think Joe's high," Pete whispered to Patrick.  
"But he said he wasn't a stoner," Patrick whispered back.  
Pete sighed. "You poor innocent soul. You're not a stoner if it's your first time."  
"Except, you know, poison powder is very poisonous!" Patrick hissed.  
"For Pokemon," Pete said. They both looked around, trying to figure out where they were. There were flowers everywhere. Woobat snuggled closer to Pete, and they kept going. After what seemed like an eternity, they ran into Joe.  
"Dude," Pete had his hands on Joe's shoulders and was shaking him. "Are you okay? Are you like, high, or -"  
"GET YOUR PAWS OFF OF MY BOYFRIEND!!!" someone roared, scaring Patrick 99% to death. "HOPPIP, ATTACK!!" Patrick dove out of the way as a small pink blur lunged at Pete and attacked his chest.  
"PIP!! HOPPIP!!!" the Pokemon squealed angrily. Patrick was reminded of how cats massage people. That was pretty much how Hoppip was attacking.  
"This honestly doesn't hurt me," Pete said. "It actually tickles."  
"Oh, I'll give you something that tickles," the guy who roared growled, but Joe held him back. "Let me at him!"  
"Here Andy, have a Snickers," Joe handed him a Snickers. "You're not as adorable when you're hungry." Andy ate the Snickers, and instantly, his demeanor changed. He went from being a PMS-ing Mama Bear to a cute and cuddly teddy bear. But Patrick knew - the angry Mama Bear still lurked.  
Andy gasped. "Joe, you didn't mention that you were bringing guests!"  
"Oh, sorry," Joe ran a hand through his hair. "Andy, this is Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz. Guys -" and here he took a deep breath. "This is my boyfriend, Andy Hurley."  
Andy smiled. "Hi guys, I'm Andy Hurley, and welcome to Andy's Nature Funland!" His voice was higher than Joe was, and Patrick kicked Pete to keep him from laughing.  
"So you and Joe..." Pete trailed off, looking back and forth between the two.  
"We are, but we're not really, but we kind of are," Joe grinned. Patrick realized with a start that he hadn't seen Joe this happy ever. So he took a closer look at this Andy Hurley. Andy's beard (hey, if Joe found that attractive, then that was his deal) was a different color than his ginger hair. He had lots of tattoos. Like, a lot of tattoos. But he couldn't stop smiling, especially at Joe. And Joe was the happiest Patrick had ever seen him. So Patrick decided to trust Andy. For now.  
"I won't lie," Andy said. "You both are really adorable. Like ginger and emo kittens."  
"Um...thank you?" Patrick said hesitantly.  
"Oh, where are my manners?" Andy darted into another room and returned with a kettle and four teacups. "Would you guys like some tea? It's totally vegan if that's an issue."  
"I think that's just you," Joe said, sitting in a chair and wrapping his arms around Andy's waist. "But that's one of the things I love about you." Andy grinned and poked Joe's nose.  
Pete turned to Patrick and whispered, "This is a prime example of how gay relationships are cuter."  
"Agreed." And Patrick wasn't just saying that; it was actually true. He had seen the other people his age in relationships (he had been forced to attend school because it was "good for you"): they treated relationships like tissues. Used it up and threw it away. It looked like Joe and Andy treated their relationship as if it were a flower. Oh God. Maybe that's why the place was covered in flowers.  
"Is that why you have flowers everywhere?" Patrick blurted. Andy looked up from pouring everyone some tea. "Pardon?"  
"Do you have flowers everywhere because of you and Joe?" Patrick burned bright red with embarrassment. "Sorry, that was a stupid question."  
"No it wasn't," Andy reached for Joe's hand, which he happily provided. "I guess so. I mean, we had our first official date in a flower field, so I was preserving that memory for the rest of our lives."  
"Aww, that's so sweet," Pete said.  
"Thanks," Andy beamed.  
Pete blinked. "Oh, I was talking about the tea. But the whole flower thing is cool too."  
"You said this was vegan?" Patrick tried to steer the conversation in a less weird-Pete direction.  
"Yes, it is totally vegan," Andy drank some tea himself. "I grow tea leaves out back and use those."  
"So you've never had a burger?" Pete asked in disbelief.  
Andy frowned in concentration. "Nope, I don't think so."  
"Pizza?"  
"Well, I've had vegan veggie pizza."  
"Doesn't count."  
"I think it does."  
Pete's eyes widened at a sudden thought. "Have you ever had a fajita?" he whispered.  
"Fa-what-a?" At this Pete fell out of his chair.  
"Op-pa," Joe said. "Welcome to the fellowship of fall out boys. You just fell out of a chair and Saint Patrick fell out of a tree."  
"What did you two fall out of?" Patrick asked.  
"I fell out of society," Joe said, and Andy began absentmindedly petting Joe's hair. "Andy..what did you fall out of?"  
"I fell out of favor with the local grocery store when I criticized their vegan selection," Andy said cheerfully. "Does that count, Pete?"  
Pete could only nod.  
"We should have a team cheer," Andy said.  
"Let's not," Patrick said. "Pete, I think I saw an emo butterfly outside."  
"Really?" Pete perked up.  
"Yeah, why don't take Woobat and go check it out?" Patrick nodded. Pete and Woobat both bolted out, looking for the 'emo butterfly'.  
"I'm going to go find some muffins," Andy decided. He patted Joe's arms and went into the kitchen, leaving Patrick and Joe alone together.  
After a minute, Joe cleared his throat. "So, Patrick. There's something I want to ask you."  
"Wait," Patrick held up a finger. "Don't say that you were on a website that links groups of Trainers and that you want to go on your journey with someone named Ryan Ross."  
Joe laughed. "No." His voice got more serious. "I was going to ask you if Andy could come with us."  
Patrick blinked. "Why me? Why not ask Pete?"  
"Well," Joe leaned back. "It wasn't Pete that brought us all together. It was you."  
"I -"  
"And you haven't noticed how you bring some calm into Pete's chaotic world?"  
"What?"  
Joe looked at Patrick quizzically. "Interesting. Anyway, he looks up to you and he respects your decisions. That's why I asked you."  
"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Patrick said. "I have no problem with Andy coming."  
"Really?" Joe brightened. He gave Patrick a big bear hug. "Thank you so much. You are a true saint."  
"No problem," Patrick returned the hug. "He makes you happy. I wouldn't say no."  
Joe grinned and went to the kitchen to tell Andy the good news. Discreetly, Patrick crept by the door of the kitchen. Hey, he was the least romantically experienced in the entire area. If he could get a little extra knowledge from observing Andy and Joe, then so be it. Clearly, they were doing something right.  
Right now, Andy was sitting on the counter, watching Joe so intently it was like they were alone in a little void only known to them. Note to self: pay attention to someone when talking. Now to hear what they were saying. This part was slightly more challenging. He settled for inching as close as possible to the door. Faintly, he could hear Joe and Andy talking.  
"...yeah, I don't think that he realizes," Andy was saying.  
"I even brought up Pete, and I don't think he gets it," Joe ran his hands through his hair.  
"Hey," Andy touched Joe's arm gently. "It's not your job to get him to realize. God, I didn't know until I met you and wanted to hide under a rock every time you looked at me." Joe smiled. Andy poked Joe's nose. "You remember when I finally worked up the nerve to talk to you?"  
"I remember," Joe tossed his hair back.  
"And I asked you if you had a crab shack?"  
Joe snickered. "And I said I don't even like crab and you looked mortified. You and Patrick both like to make terrible puns about my name."  
"Have a vegan muffin," Andy handed Joe a muffin.  
Joe took a bite. "Not bad."  
"Ha," Andy declared triumphantly.  
"You vegan freak," Joe said teasingly. Then he took a step towards Andy and pulled him close. Andy touched Joe's hair lightly, just barely making contact. "But you're my vegan freak." Joe whispered, so quiet that Patrick could barely hear him.  
"And you're my favorite carnivore," Andy responded.  
Then they kissed.  
It wasn't an Olympic match, in terms of mouth action, but it wasn't a quick peck like your grandma gave you either. It was very soft and gentle. Clearly not the first time kissing for either of them. But you could feel the pure emotion radiating off of them. Patrick almost wanted to turn away, but he didn't at the same time. However, his face started turning redder than Andy's hair when their hands started doing a little more than touching hair.  
The door slammed. Andy and Joe leaped apart, both looking unhappy that they had to stop. Patrick heard Andy whisper, "Later." Patrick bolted to the other room, acting like he hadn't been stalking Andy and Joe. Sylveon approached and began rubbing against Patrick's leg.  
Pete came storming in, followed by Woobat. Joe's words came floating back to Patrick: You haven't noticed how you bring some calm into Pete's chaotic world? Now Patrick tried to pay more attention to Pete. True, he didn't seem as tense as he had been back at the Pokemon lab. But was that because of Patrick?  
"Patrick?" Pete was saying. "Stump Boy, you in there?"  
"Yeah," Patrick shook himself out of his thoughts. "Lost in thought, I guess."  
"Well, a big group of nature Pokemon are coming this way, so we either have to leave or fight them off," Pete said. "I was talking to Woobat, and then we heard them coming so we came back."  
"What were you talking about?" Patrick asked.  
Pete turned bright red. "Uh...um...personal stuff," he said lamely. "Just, you know, stuff."  
"What's going on?" Joe asked, with Andy in pursuit carrying a tray of vegan muffins.  
"A bunch of nature Pokemon are coming this way," Pete said, clearly relieved to not talk about his chat. "And they look mad."  
"They shouldn't," Andy said. "Unless...damn it."  
"What?" Joe asked.  
"Team MCR," Andy said furiously. "They're riling the Pokemon up again."  
"I'm sorry, I'm confused," Patrick said.  
"Team MCR, or Team My Chemical Romance," Andy said. "They like to wreak havoc around the area. Riling up the Pokemon is one of their favorite things to do."  
"Who's in it?" Pete asked, folding his arms. "We should beat them up."  
"Gerard Way, Mikey Way -"  
"Did you just say Milky Way?" Patrick asked.  
"No," Andy replied. "Anyway, Frank Iero...oh and Ray. I always forget him."  
"Do you think that we could take them?" Joe asked.  
"You or me could probably take on Gerard and Mikey," Andy said uncertainly. "But Patrick or Pete? No chance. They'd be slaughtered."  
"Why don't we focus on the wild Pokemon for now?" Joe suggested, rubbing Andy's shoulders to calm him down. "Team MCR probably won't even be around."  
"Okay," Andy agreed. "How much training have you two had?"  
"Um...in my head? Loads," Patrick said. "In reality? None."  
"Same," Pete replied.  
"In that case," Andy went over to a bookshelf and pulled a giant tome off of the shelf. He began skimming through it. "Patrick, tell Sylveon to use Disarming Voice and Tackle. Got it?"  
"Yes," Patrick said.  
"Good. Pete,have Woobat..." Andy flipped more pages. "Have Woobat use Confusion. It'll have to do."  
At this point, a loud rumble was heard outside. The wild Pokemon had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right my emo friends, My Chemical Romance is coming!!!


	4. Team MCRa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE LOVE

"Patrick, Pete, let me and Joe make the first move," Andy said, locking eyes with the two. "It'll give you guys a chance to strike while they're disoriented. Clear?"  
"Crystal," Pete spoke for the both of them.  
Patrick's heart was hammering. What if he failed so badly that everyone would abandon him? Then how would he continue his journey? Somehow, Pete seemed to sense this, and he patted Patrick on the back. "You'll do just fine, Stump Boy. Hey, if we make it past this battle, you can be my new sidekick."  
Patrick cracked a grin. "GayBoy and his trusty sidekick Stump Boy?"  
Pete smiled broadly. "Exactly."  
"Okay, you two, we're moving out," Joe said. "Wait for me or Andy to make the first move, remember?" Pete and Patrick nodded.  
Joe quietly opened the door, allowing Hoppip and Drifloom to get out. The others followed. Patrick looked around. The trees were eerily quiet.  
And then all hell broke loose.  
A small army of Bunnelby and Zigzagoon leaped out of the bushes and charged towards the house. But Andy and Joe were ready for them.  
"Hoppip, use Fairy Wind!" Andy yelled. The first line of Pokemon fell down.  
"Drifloom, Constrict!" Joe said, and the Pokemon squealed in pain at Drifloom's attack. Some of the Pokemon fainted, but a few staggered back to their feet.  
"Patrick, Pete, go!" Joe shouted.  
Patrick was momentarily stunned. Crap, what moves could Sylveon use again? "Sylveon, use, uh, Tackle!" Sylveon slammed into one of the Bunnelby, knocking it and a few of its friends out.  
"Woobat, Confusion!" Pete said. None of the Pokemon seemed all that confused. "It didn't work?" Pete asked, crestfallen.  
"There's literally a 10% chance of it working," Andy said. "Don't feel bad, just keep trying. Hoppip, Stun Spore!"  
After Hoppip unleashed its Stun Spore, it lit up in a bright flash of light. Once the light died, it was no longer a Hoppip. Instead, a green Pokemon with a bright yellow flower on its head stood in its place. It beamed brightly. "Skiploom!" it squealed in excitement.  
"Hoppip evolved!" Andy said happily. "Let's bring in a friend. Come on out Eevee!" He threw out a Poke Ball, and an Eevee popped out. "Eevee!" it cried.  
"Use Quick Attack!" Andy said. While the whole Hoppip-Skiploom thing was going on, Pete and Joe had been teaming up to handle the remaining Pokemon. Within a few moments, all of the Bunnelby and Zigzagoon lay knocked out on the ground.  
From inside the tree cover, someone began to clap. "Not bad, Mr. Hurley."  
"Shit," Andy said under his breath. He raised his voice. "Surprised to see you here, Gerard."  
"What, you thought that I'd miss the show?" Gerard stepped out in front of the trees, flanked by Mikey. Frank was nowhere to be seen. "I wouldn't miss seeing you and your little darlings of Pokemon take on my army for the world. Or maybe a night with Maria Brink. Maybe for that."  
A surge of anger rose up inside Patrick. Before he could stop himself, he said, "That's my mom, you jerk." Goddamn it.  
Gerard turned to face him, a slow smile creeping onto his face. "You must be that little thing Maria took in a while back. Surely you don't mean to say that you have an exclusive monopoly on her?"  
"No, but she wouldn't let a creep like you have any kind of monopoly on her, either," Patrick shot back. Andy and Joe snickered. Pete was too busy staring at Mikey to notice. For some reason, Patrick didn't like that very much.  
Rather than lose it (like Patrick feared), Gerard laughed. "Kid's got some spark! Although that's to be expected from the Fire-type leader's son." He gestured to Mikey, who brought forth a large, off-white boombox. "What's your name?"  
"Patrick."  
"Well then, Patrick," Gerard said. "I challenge you to a battle!"  
Everyone, including Team MCR, gasped. Patrick and the others were only beginning Trainers - was Gerard crazy? Andy stepped forward to try and defuse the situation. "Come on Gerard, Patrick literally just started his journey two or three hours ago. You seriously expect him to be able to handle a battle with you?"  
Gerard laughed. "Oh Andy. You flatter me. I'll go easy on him, I promise. Scout's honor." He held up a hand in mock oath.  
Patrick looked at Sylveon, who was currently chasing its ribbons. Were they ready to take on legendary Trainer Gerard Way? He shook his head. "I dunno..."  
Gerard shook his head and turned to Mikey. "I guess he doesn't have the spark to be Maria Brink's son."  
"That does it!" Patrick shouted. His blood was boiling and pounding in his ears. "We accept your challenge!"  
"There's a boy!" Gerard said approvingly. He pulled a Poke Ball off of his belt and grinned maliciously. "You first."  
"Go Sylveon!" Patrick yelled. Sylveon looked around, like 'Who, me?' before leaping in front of Patrick. Gerard smiled the way one smiles when watching cat videos on YouTube.  
"Adorable," he said. "But mine's better though - Frank Iero, I choose you!" Frank - yes, the actual Frank - leaped out of the Poke Ball.  
"Jesus Christ, Gerard," Joe said, face-palming. "Don't make Patrick fight Frank on his first Trainer-to-Trainer battle."  
"I'm pretty sure that Frank Iero is not a Pokemon," Pete said, snapping out of his Mikey-induced stupor.  
"Fine, fine, frickin' fine," Gerard made a face and called Frank back into the Poke Ball. "You people are no fun. Skitty, go have some fun with these party poopers." Skitty sprang out of the Poke Ball.  
"Sylveon, use Tackle!" Sylveon leaped at Skitty, who tried to move out of the way but wasn't fast enough. Gerard gritted his teeth.  
"It's okay, Skitty," he said. "Use Fake Out!" Skitty did so, and Sylveon flinched and wouldn't move. "Great job Skitty, now Tackle!" Skitty slammed into Sylveon, who squealed and promptly fainted.  
"Sylveon!" Patrick yelled. He ran to his Pokemon's side and began panicking at the sight of it motionless. "Oh God, oh God, oh God."  
"Relax, he just passed out," Gerard said, offering a hand. "Good match. You did really well for someone who just started three hours ago."  
"Thanks," Patrick shook Gerard's outstretched hand.  
"Now, for the matter of the army," Gerard leaned down and pressed a button on the boombox. At once, the Bunnelby and Zigzagoon woke up, but they seemed dazed and confused. Then they realized how close in proximity they were to humans and ran off.  
"So you were controlling them with the boombox?" Patrick asked, reaching out to touch it. Gerard smacked his hand away.  
"Don't touch Selena!" he said sharply.  
"Selena?"  
"The boombox's name," Mikey rolled his eyes. "How inconsiderate of you, to assume the boombox doesn't have a name."  
"Why Selena?" Pete asked.  
"Why not Selena?" Mikey retorted. Then he turned to Gerard. "Why did we name her Selena?"  
"I think because we thought it would be a sexy, seductive name," Gerard said thoughtfully. "Anyway, let us be off to wreak havoc. Good seeing you guys." He then bowed and walked out, followed by Mikey and Skitty.  
"Okay," Andy said after a silence. "That was Team MCR."  
"Is Gerard always that much of an asshole?" Patrick asked.  
"Usually? He's usually more of an asshole," Andy said. "He must have been having a really good day."  
"Where's the nearest Pokemon Center?" Patrick asked in concern.  
"Uh..." Joe scanned the map. "Probably in Cyrano Town."  
"Which is..."  
"Maybe a few hours that way," Joe pointed in the direction that Gerard and Mikey went. Pete looked really excited.  
"Do you think we'll see them again?" he asked.  
"And by them, you mean Mikey?" Andy asked slyly. Pete's scarlet face was answer enough. "I don't know. Maybe." Pete looked really depressed, and Patrick had this strange urge to comfort him. And also maybe stroke his hair. WTF. Where were these thoughts coming from? He shook his head and began searching for Sylveon's Poke Ball. Once he found it, he clicked it, and Sylveon's limp form was sucked inside.  
"Okay," Joe said. "We'll head out for Cyrano Town in an hour. Just relax."  
"Vegan muffins inside on the table!" Andy said falsely cheerful. Once Pete was inside, Andy sank onto the deck. Joe sat down next to him and began rubbing his back. Not saying anything. Just rubbing. After a bit, Andy just laid his head on Joe's shoulder. At this point, Patrick went inside. Pete was munching on one of Andy's vegan muffins.  
"These aren't bad," he said. "You should try one."  
"Thanks," Patrick said. Together they sat and ate their muffins.  
"So," Pete said when he was done. "This is going to be an awkward question, but you don't have to answer."  
"Shoot," Patrick took another bite.  
"Do you, ah, ever miss your parents?"  
"Of course," Patrick said. "Well, I guess I miss the knowledge of who they were. Maria was a really great parent, so I don't feel like I was lacking. I just wish I knew the people who brought me into the world. You know?"  
"I understand," Pete said quietly. "God, I don't miss the knowledge, I miss how they used to be." He shot Patrick a sideways glance. "This may come as a shock to you, but I was a happy child."  
Patrick nearly spit out his muffin. "Are you kidding me?"  
Pete grinned. "It's true. Anyway, when I was really little, my mom was still with us, and my dad...he was a completely different person. More fun, quicker to laugh, easier to talk to."  
"Then what happened?"  
Pete took a deep breath. "And then my mom left. Dad never went externally crazy. But he retreated inside of himself. His work became his life. I got shut out."  
"Jesus Pete. I'm so sorry."  
Pete shrugged. "I dealt. I retreated into my bass and kept to myself. And I dreamed. A lot."  
"About what?" Patrick inched a little closer.  
"This is going to sound stupid," Pete said hesitantly.  
"Try me," Patrick said.  
Pete paused. "I dreamed about having a friend. A friend who could quite possibly turn into a boyfriend."  
"Oh."  
Pete began backtracking. "That doesn't mean that the friend also has to be a boyfriend. It could be either or," he said quickly. Then he looked down. "I just want someone who cares about me to stay. Or someone to care about me, period."  
And with that, Patrick's heart melted. He really, really, really wanted to be that guy of Pete's dreams. Goddammit, hadn't they both gone through enough crap? They deserved a break. But now, the trick was figuring out how to tell Pete.  
Luckily, Pete was quick to change the subject. "So what's your favorite food?"  
"Pancakes," Patrick said instantly. Pete raised an eyebrow.  
"Wouldn't have expected that. Mine's spaghetti."  
"I wouldn't have expected that," Patrick grinned. "Why spaghetti?"  
"My mom's best dish," he smiled. Crap, that smile was worse than crack. "Why pancakes?"  
"Once you've had Maria's pancakes, you won't need to ask," Patrick assured him. And thus their conversation continued, covering topics from favorite candy (Pete's was Hershey Dark) to the usefulness of math (it could be very useful in highly unlikely situations).  
"Hey you guys," Andy popped his head in. "We're about to leave, so make sure you have everything."  
"I'm good, how about you?" Pete asked Patrick. Butterflies (probably emo butterflies at that) fluttered in Patrick's stomach. I'd probably be better if you were holding my hand, you adorable jerk.  
"I'm good," Patrick nodded.  
"Great, so we're out of here," Andy said. He grabbed a pair of drumsticks from the umbrella holder. Once Patrick and Pete had left, he locked the door and patted the doorknob. "We'll be back soon."  
With one final glance at the house, the four looked at each other and then at the road ahead. And they started the next leg of their journey.


	5. Cyrano Town

The walk itself wasn't bad. Joe had made it sound like a really arduous walk when in actuality it had only been about an hour and a half on an open trail. The real pain was enduring the journey without Sylveon. Was this was it felt like every time a Trainer's Pokemon fainted? Jesus Christ, how did Trainers deal? He asked Andy.  
"I think it's worse because you and Sylveon are truly connected," Andy had said. "Not that it's not painful, it's just worse for you. It'll get easier over time."  
Everyone had also gotten to know each other a little better. While Patrick and Pete had lived in Metal Town their entire lives, Joe had lived in Kairan City, home of Psychic Type Gym Leader Amy Lee, up until he had left with Drifloon. Andy, to everyone's surprise, had lived in Fyodoren City for most of his life, until he met Joe and fought the street mafia/Gym officials to get out of the city. It was a surprise because Fyodoren City was the home of the Fighting Type Gym, and the co-Leaders known only as Johnny and Charlie ruled with a combination of violence, profanity, and undead armies. The fact that Andy with his sweet temperament had made it out alive was amazing.  
"The first city after we hit Cyrano Town should be Aqualia City," Joe said, looking at Andy. "Who runs that one again?"  
"Aqualia?" Andy thought for a moment. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it’s Oli Sykes."  
"What type does he use?" Patrick asked.  
"Water," Andy said. "Easy enough for your first Gym battle."  
“Good thing you don’t have a Fire type,” Joe snorted. “Otherwise you’d get annihilated.”  
They approached the gates of Cyrano Town. Although it was starting to get late, people were still wandering the streets. The town felt very similar to Metal Town, in terms of homeliness. A young man in an official-looking uniform approached them.  
"Hi, welcome to Cyrano Town!" he smiled. "Can I help you find anything?"  
"Uh, a Pokemon Center," Joe said. "And a place to sleep."  
"Okay, the Pokemon Center is going to be right down that street," said the guy, pointing. "And there's an inn right next to it called The Water Buffalo's Den. Tell them that the guys at Visitor Help sent you."  
"Great, thanks for the help," Patrick said.  
"No problem," the guy smiled. "Enjoy your stay at Cyrano Town!"  
The group followed the guy's directions and found the Pokemon Center. Once inside, a cheerful nurse greeted them. "Need to recharge your Pokemon?" she asked.  
"Yes please," Patrick quickly handed over Sylveon's Poke Ball and let out a small sigh of relief as the blue light lit up around the ball. The others did so as well.  
"Oh, before I forget," the nurse said. "Are any of you fellows Pete Wentz?"  
Pete started. "I am," he stepped forward.  
The nurse reached under the desk and came up with a large case. "Your dad left this for you."  
Pete gasped. "No way!"  
"Actually," someone piped up. Patrick and the others wheeled around to see none other than Team MCR. "You have two Ways right here! Isn't that great?"  
"I didn't think I put in a prescription for Smartass-acil," Patrick said. "What do you want, Gerard?"  
Gerard feigned hurt. "Can't I visit my favorite little fireball without having an ulterior motive?"  
"No," all four (plus Mikey) said in unison.  
"Smart," Gerard grinned. "Just letting you know, the Crybabies sent agents to scout the area. They're looking for us, but I don't know why -"  
"Maybe because you thought it would be a good idea to paintball their base in the Dark Forest bright, sparkly pink and write 'Crybabies suck balls, love Team MCR'?" Mikey sounded irritated, and Patrick couldn't blame him. "Ever think of that, dearest Gerard?"  
"Oh, I guess that's a legitimate reason to be pissed," Gerard nodded, batting his eyelashes at Mikey. "Darling Mikey." Mikey looked ready to throw something large and heavy at Gerard's face so Patrick stepped in.  
"So how does that involve us?" he asked.  
"Well," Gerard flashed a smile. "I was hoping that you guys would help us get out of Cyrano Town? Maybe call in some reinforcements from Blood City?"  
"And why should we help you?" Pete asked, crossing his arms and looking pretty badass, in Patrick's opinion.  
"We have firsthand knowledge on where some Crybaby bases are located," Gerard sat down at one of the tables and propped his legs up. "If you help us, we'll help you take out the Crybabies."  
"Give us a minute," Joe said, and they initiated a group circle. "That seems like a pretty legit deal."  
"But it's Team MCR," Pete frowned. "How do we know that they'll follow through?"  
"Because the Crybabies are nothing to joke about," Patrick said. "I think even Gerard wouldn't be stupid enough to cross that line."  
"Gerard may have been stupid enough to provoke them," Andy began. "But he doesn't deserve to suffer the Crybabies’ tortures."  
Everyone looked at Pete. "I'm not opposed," he said defensively. "I just think we need to be careful."  
"So we threaten to send him to Andy Biersack if he's bad?" Patrick asked.  
"Gerard might enjoy that," Andy said. "You never know with Gerard."  
"So we're saying yes?" Joe asked. Everyone nodded. "Great. Patrick, you may want to call your mom." Patrick dialed.  
Maria answered instantly. "What's wrong?" Patrick was taken aback by the accuracy of her statement.  
"How'd you know?"  
"You called like, two hours ago," Maria replied. "You wouldn't call again unless something happened. I'll ask again: what's wrong?"  
"Gerard was stupid -"  
"Oh, that narrows it down," Maria said sarcastically.  
" - and he provoked the Crybabies, and now they're on a manhunt for him and we need help. Pretty please?"  
Maria sighed. "Where are you?"  
"Cyrano Town."  
"I'll be there in a bit. Love you."  
"Love you too." He hung up.  
Gerard strolled over to Patrick, a huge smile on his face. "So, is Maria coming?"  
"It's a surprise," Patrick put away his phone.  
Gerard pouted. "I can't take it - the suspense is killing me."  
"Good. One less thing I have to think about," Patrick said. Gerard only smiled and sauntered away, saying over his shoulder, "You know you love me, my little fireball!"  
In your dreams, Patrick thought. In order to distract himself, he wandered over to Pete, who was holding the case and fiddling with it in wonder.  
"So why is the case so special?" Patrick asked, sitting down next to Pete.  
"It's not the case," Pete said, gently stroking the top. Carefully, he opened the case. "It's what's inside." Patrick gasped.  
Inside the case was the most beautiful bass guitar Patrick had ever seen. It was a glossy obsidian black, and the strings were an eye-piercing silver. They looked like bright, shining comets in a pure black sky.  
"Jesus Christ, where did you get that beautiful piece of heaven?" Patrick asked in awe.  
"If that bass was a woman," Gerard started, but Patrick cut him off.  
"Gerard, if you want to keep the family jewels where God put them," he said very firmly. "You will not finish that sentence."  
"Fine," Gerard slunk away to flirt with the nurse.  
"He was getting on my nerves," Patrick told Pete. "Go ahead."  
"Well," Pete carefully touched the bass. "It was a gift from my mom."  
"Oh."  
"Yeah - wait, what's this?" Pete pulled an envelope out from underneath the bass. He pulled a letter out of the envelope and began to read. After a minute, he started to tear up. Once he was done, he handed the letter to Patrick, said, "Let Andy and Joe read it once you're done," and walked out. There were tears flowing down his cheeks. Patrick began to read. The letter was addressed to 'My Favorite Little Man'"  
Dear Pete/Little Man,  
If you're reading this, it means that your dad and I really did get a divorce and I couldn't tell you this in person. I know you feel like the divorce was the result of you coming out to me. Let me assure you: it was not. You had absolutely nothing to do with it. The divorce was the solution to issues that your father and I tried to resolve but failed. Believe me, I truly wish that we could have avoided putting you through all that pain. It broke my heart to see your face when I left. But I had no choice, if I wanted to help provide you a future that you wanted. I saw your face light up when you played your bass, and I thought it would be fitting to get you a gift that you would love. However, your father and I agreed that he would give it to you when you left on your journey. You would be ready to consider accepting my gift with an open mind. I know that you're angry and upset with me, and you may not want to take the bass, I understand. You can sell it, or smash it, or burn it, or do whatever with it. But if you want it, then make some beautiful music. Play from your heart, and find people who you would call your best friends and share those awesome bass skills from when you were younger with the world. Oh, and as to your coming out? I had a feeling. Call it a mother's intuition. And I am so proud of you for having the courage to be yourself in a world where sometimes people really don't like others being themselves. Regardless of what your father's said, I will always be proud of you. I will forever be proud of my smart, funny, handsome, original son. I understand if you don't want to see me or talk to me or hear from me ever again, but if you do, I live at 45 South James Street in Aqualia City. You can bring your friends (or boyfriend if you have one) as well. Remember the song I used to sing to you when you couldn't sleep.  
Love,  
Mom  
"Oh my God," Patrick said. His head was spinning. He handed the letter to Joe and said, "Don't let Gerard read it." He walked over to the nurse. "Excuse me? Do you know where the guy I was with a minute ago went?"  
"I let him go into that broom closet," the nurse pointed.  
"Thank you," Patrick said, then walked over to the broom closet. He paused. What exactly do you say to someone (that you like) who has just found out that his mom did not abandon him, as he previously thought? ("Hey, Pete, the foundation of your world has just changed dramatically, want to go out for pizza?" Yeah, hell no.) He decided to wing it. Quietly, he opened the door.  
"Pete?"  
The only sound you could hear was the occasional sniffle. Slowly, Patrick made his way to the back of the closet and found Pete, who was curled up into a tiny ball. His knees were pressed against his chest. His tear-stained eyes were locked onto a mop at the other end of the closet. Awkwardly, Patrick wedged himself in between a cart of cleaning supplies and Pete. He didn't say anything at first.  
"I am a terrible person," Pete said quietly, wiping his eyes with a random doctor's coat sleeve.  
"Now why would you say that?" Patrick asked.  
"I've been so -" he choked up and needed a moment to compose himself. "- so angry and upset at her for four or five years, and it turns out that it's all been for no reason."  
"You had plenty of reason," Patrick said. "From what you interpreted and what Conservative Father didn't tell you, you were very justified in your anger."  
"She stopped sending letters though," Pete said. "Not that I was reading them, I was too mad. But it still would have been really nice to know that she still cared enough to send them."  
"I think that after Maria comes and deals with the Crybabies," Patrick said carefully. "I think that we should go back to Metal Town and that you should have a chat with Conservative Father."  
"We second that," said Andy. He and Joe had quietly come in while Pete had been talking. Now they sat down on Pete's other side, forming a Support Pete Sandwich.  
"You really think so?" Pete asked, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.  
"Well, your dad's been hiding stuff from you for a good chunk of your life," Joe said. "That is an excellent reason to be angry. The sooner you get that off of your chest, the better. I promise."  
"He would know," Andy nodded. "Joe's like the Hulk: when he gets mad, run. As fast and far away as you possibly can."  
"Like Andy when he's hungry?" Patrick asked, remembering Mama Bear.  
"Worse," Andy swung the door open, revealing Gerard.  
"Go away Gerard," Joe said.  
"What if I don't wanna - ow!" The last part was because Patrick had thrown a bottle of Windex at him. "What the hell?"  
"He said go away," Patrick said.  
"Yeah Gerard," said Mikey from the background. "This is why the Crybabies are after us - you manage to irritate people everywhere you go."  
"Shut up Mikey!" Gerard snapped. "Why do you always side with them?"  
"They make sense," Mikey responded. "Unlike you."  
"I hate you so much."  
"Sure."  
"I am totally serious, Mikey!"  
"And Frank is a Pokemon."  
"We love him either way."  
"Goddamnit, Gerard, just close the door." Gerard did so, leaving the group of fall out boys alone together once more.  
"You must think I'm a wuss," Pete said.  
"No, we don't," Patrick said. A sense of courage rose in him, and (perhaps stupidly) he kept talking. "If I got a letter from Maria telling me how awesome I was, I'd cry too." Especially if I'd been living my life thinking that she was disappointed in me." Especially if I thought she left because I told her I was gay, he thought to himself. Frick frack. How was he going to tell Maria? "Having feelings and letting them out doesn't mean you're a wuss. It means that you feel comfortable enough with us to do that. I'll be honest." He quietly gulped. "I'm really glad that you feel comfortable enough to do that with us, Pete."  
There was a long pause. "Me too."  
...  
Maria arrived a little while later. Patrick was surprised to see how much she had changed in a few hours. Instead of the messy T-shirts and sweatpants that she wore back home, she was wearing a tight form-fitting black dress with a red marking on the torso area. A long slit ran up the side, revealing black thigh-high boots. She wore long black gloves and a vintage hat. She looked beautiful. And dangerous. Patrick was really glad that it wasn't the Crybabies.  
"Patrick!" Maria smiled, and suddenly she wasn't the menacing Gym Leader of Blood City. She was his mom. He ran forward and they hugged.  
"Oh Patrick, you lucky man," Gerard said. "I want to know your secret. Like, really badly."  
"You really want to know?" Patrick asked. Gerard perked up and nodded. Patrick gestured for him to come closer, and when Gerard did, he whispered. "I'm not a loser and I'm her son."  
Gerard pouted. "Not fair."  
"First come, first serve," Maria grinned. "I want to meet your friends. Where are your friends?"  
"Um..." Patrick glanced around. "Joe and Andy might be making out in a broom closet. So I don't know."  
Maria looked confused. "Andy Biersack?"  
"No, Andy Hurley," Patrick said. "We met him after we called you. He was Joe's surprise."  
"Andy Hurley," Maria mused. "You mean, Andy's Nature Funland, Andy Hurley?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay, I understand now," Maria nodded. She seemed to be taking the whole gay thing in stride. "What about the other one? What's his name...Pete?"  
A strange feeling began to arise in Patrick's insides. It felt sort of like he had drank hot chocolate and the magic powers you got from drinking it had begun to spread. "Uh..."  
"Right here!" Pete randomly appeared, fetchingly draped against the wall, the picture of dark and badass grace. Damn. That sounded like a Disney song. He needed to stop. "Hi Mrs. Patrick's Mom, I'm Pete."  
"The one with the Woobat?" Maria smiled, shaking his hand. Pete looked extremely starstruck. "It's a pleasure to meet you Pete."  
"Nice to meet you too," Pete whispered. Maria left to get a drink of water, and Pete squealed in excitement. "She knows my name!"  
"Of course she does," Patrick said, trying to sound nonchalant. "You're like, my third friend ever."  
"Really?" Pete turned to face him. "I'm your third friend ever?" Patrick could feel his face reddening as he turned away and nodded.  
"Well, you're my third friend ever too," Pete looked at the ground. "Let me guess. Brendon was your only friend back in Metal Town."  
"Yeah," Patrick said. "And Ryan was yours?"  
"Uh huh," Pete closed his eyes. "How is it that we never knew each other before this?"  
"I think I was just that kid that was always in the background," Patrick confessed. "Honestly, Brendon found me and we became friends that way. I was content to just be that guy in the crowd that no one noticed. Brendan was the only one who noticed me."  
"Now that you mention it," Pete commented. "I think we had the same math class in fifth grade. Did you have that lady who sounded like Andy if he smoked a pack a day?"  
"Oh my God, yes," Patrick said excitedly. "She was terrible."  
"She was always like," Pete coughed and put on a ridiculous falsetto accent. "Mr. Wentz, you need to show your work! Not all teachers are as nice as me, and it'll get worse later on!" Patrick nearly fell over from laughing so hard.  
"And then you would point out that it was Kyle the Stoner's paper," he snorted. "Yeah, I remember."  
"Those were good times," Pete said. "I sort of wish that it still was like it used to be."  
"Only sort of?"  
"Well, if Ryan hadn't left," Pete said slowly. "I wouldn't have met you."  
"Or Andy or Joe," Patrick added.  
"Yeah," Pete agreed. "But I wouldn't have met you either."  
Patrick was at a loss for words. How did one respond to a statement like that? A little voice in his head began whispering What are you waiting for? Kiss him. KISS HIM.  
My head's messed up, he thought. Luckily, Joe and Andy showed up, so he could stop thinking about his own messed up thoughts.  
"Maria's here?" Joe asked.  
"Yeah, I've already met her," Pete grinned. Patrick tried really hard to avoid that smile. "She's nice."  
"Well, I'm glad that at least one person thinks so," Maria said from behind him. Pete jumped. Maria smiled and shook her head. "Works every time. You two must be Joe and Andy?"  
"I'm Joe," Joe said, shaking her hand.  
"The one who's not a stoner," Maria stated. "Right. I got it now." Joe blinked but seemed to accept it.  
"And I'm Andy," Andy smiled. "Do you like vegan muffins?"  
Now it was Maria's turn to blink. "I, ah, can't say I've tried any."  
"That'll change soon enough," Andy promised. "It's really nice to meet you."  
"Yeah," Pete agreed. "You should have heard Patrick on the way to Andy's. He was going on and on about you -"  
"That was you," Patrick said. "I just agreed."  
"Aww, Patrick," Maria smiled. Was she about to cry? "That's so sweet." She looked like the floodgates were about to open, and she seized Patrick and pulled him into a hug. Desperately, Patrick mouthed Do something! to Pete. Pete threw his hands in the air. You got me into this, Patrick mouthed. Now get me out of it. Pete sighed. Luckily, Andy showed up (Patrick hadn't even noticed him leave, the ginger ninja) carrying a box of most likely vegan muffins.  
"Okay Andy," Pete said. "Where the hell do you get your vegan muffins? It seems like you have them wherever we are."  
"Never go anywhere without a vegan muffin," Andy said solemnly. "That's my second rule."  
"What's your first?" Patrick asked, untangling himself from Maria's hug.  
"Never let random guys touch Joe," Andy nodded. "Especially right here!" He made a dive at Joe and began tickling his neck.  
"Stop!" Joe squealed - which was just as weird as it sounded. He began to curl into a ball and fell onto the floor. Andy started laughing maniacally - which was also just as weird as it sounded. Pete glanced at Patrick as though to say What can you do? and jumped into the fray. Patrick looked at Maria.  
She sighed. "Go ahead Patrick."  
"Thank you!" Patrick tackled Joe, who was begging Andy to stop in between laughing and crying. This continued for about another minute and a half, until Joe finally gasped, "I'm done. You win, you win." Andy grinned and poked Joe's nose for good measure.  
"This is fun," Pete leaned back against the couch. Patrick tried to not stare at how Pete's shirt stuck to his chest and made a faint outline of his muscles...crap. He was doing it again. "We should do it again."  
"Oh, yeah," Patrick realized that Pete was referring to tickle fights and not staring at sexy gay men's chest muscles. "Totally."  
"Okay Patrick," Maria came over in a swirl of skirts. "I'm taking Gerard and Mikey and Frank to go hunt down that Crybaby outpost."  
"And you're not coming," Gerard added, popping up behind Maria with a smug look on his face.  
"What!? why?" Patrick sprang to his feet.  
"It's too dangerous," Maria said patiently. She had probably predicted this. "You started your journey a few hours ago. You're in no position to take on the Crybabies."  
"Come on," Patrick pleaded.  
"No, and that's my final answer," Maria said sharply. Then her eyes softened. "I know you really want to come, but you're just not ready. Maybe next time."  
"You'll have to share her, little fireball," Gerard said.  
"With who? You?" Patrick asked. Maria snorted.  
"I'll be back soon," she said, kissing Patrick's forehead. "Take the guys and go check in at that hotel next door. I'll come say goodbye before I leave."  
"You're not staying?"  
"I have to help train two new Gym Leaders," Maria said. "They're going to be Dual Leaders in the new city they're building up north. I think they're going to Aqualia City next, so you might run into them."  
"Okay," Patrick said, defeated. "Love you."  
"Love you too. See you later." Maria left, with Gerard smirking at him the entire way out. Pete went to the window and watched them for a bit, then turned to the other guys.  
"Okay, let's go follow them," he said, as though saying that they should go eat ice cream. That would make a great date. Wait, did he just suggest following them?  
"Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Maria said no."  
"Are you going to listen to everything Maria tells you?" Pete asked. "This is a once in a lifetime chance."  
"I'm with Pete," Joe said apologetically. "It sounds like fun."  
"I'll go with Joe," Andy started playing with Joe's fingers. Pete looked at Patrick expectantly. It didn't matter. Patrick was in the palm of Pete's hand and Pete didn't even know it.  
"You all are a terrible influence," Patrick grumbled. "Let's go."  
"Yes," Pete whispered, pumping a victory fist.  
Together, the four boys slipped out into the night. They didn't need to follow tracks or anything tricky like that. They just listened for the people on the streets muttering about Gerard. It was like Mikey said: Gerard had a talent for irritating people wherever he went. Eventually they were led into the woods, but the path that they followed was more rugged and wild than the one leading into Cyrano Town. Luckily, Andy's Skiploom was great at tracking. It was like a bloodhound. They followed Maria and Team MCR deep into the woods. After a while of this, Pete made them stop. He held a finger to his lips. They heard Maria talking.  
"Cut the crap. You and I both know that you're in league with the Crybabies."  
Someone laughed sadistically. With a chill, Patrick realized that it was Maria. He moved a little closer, close enough to see in a clearing. Maria had her back to him. She was standing over a figure that was trembling. It was a girl, probably only in her late teens.  
"Playing dumb won't save you," Maria said softly. "Team MCR already has your friend. They know where the safe house is. You're kinda fucked." Right on cue, Gerard and Mikey dragged another girl into the clearing. Frank was nowhere to be seen. This girl was older, maybe mid-twenties. She was clearly a fighter; Gerard had a cut on his arm and Mikey was limping. The new girl glared at Maria with pure hatred in her eyes.  
"What did you do with the house?" Maria's question was directed at Gerard and Mikey, but she didn't break eye contact with the girls.  
"Left it," Mikey winced as he rubbed his leg. "It's still pretty trashed from Gerard's little craft project." Although he wasn't positive, Patrick felt like Maria was smiling.  
"Well, let's take these two and go check it out," Maria said. She seized each girl roughly by the arm and started dragging them out. This time, Patrick led the stalking. They made it to a tiny cottage. It used to be a dark gray that blended in with the rest of the forest - that is, until Gerard had spray painted it a very flashy, very sparkly, terribly tacky pink. It looked like something from the 80s had gotten food poisoning and vomited all over it. ON the porch, Gerard had taken a black paintbrush and written 'Crybabies, you suck balls worse than a broken vacuum cleaner. Love, Gerard and Mikey and Frank and Ray'. Once again, Patrick kicked Pete to keep him from laughing.  
Maria managed to produce a Poke Ball from somewhere and released the Pokemon. Patrick caught his breath. It was Maria's legendary Charizard. Charizard was just as majestic as he had imagined. Its wings spread out on either side to form an imperial looking display that was just as gorgeous as it was intimidating. It breathed smoke. It locked its scorching eyes onto the two girls. The younger one trembled even more violently, and Patrick couldn't blame her. Even the older one looked nervous.  
"Last chance to come clean," Maria glared at the girls the same way she did to Patrick when he was younger and tried to steal cookies from the kitchen. The younger one began to cry and confessed that she had been twisted by the Crybabies and convinced to join. But now she wanted out.  
Maria nodded. "Thank you," She said. "Here, take this. It'll help calm you down." She handed the girl a small, purple tablet, which she swallowed, her eyes turned blank. After a moment, they went back to normal, but the girl looked confused.  
"Get her out of here," Maria told Gerard and Mikey. "Take her back into town. And get yourselves fixed up." Mikey nodded and gently led the girl out of the clearing.  
Gerard glanced at Maria. "You sure?"  
"I think I'll be fine," Maria said. "Just go, Gerard." Gerard did so, looking back as he did until he was gone. Once he was gone, Maria turned back to the girl. "Okay, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." The girl narrowed her eyes and spit on the ground at Maria's feet.  
"Fine, we're doing this the hard way," Maria growled. "Ten seconds for last words."  
"Long live the Crybabies!" the girl yelled. "You will never kill our spirit -"  
"Ten seconds are up," Maria said coldly. "She's all yours, Charizard." In one effortless motion, Charizard swooped down and began ripping the girl to pieces. They all gasped, but the sound was drowned out in the sound of the girl's screams.  
In an instant, Joe was whispering in Patrick's ear, "Andy's about to hurl, I'm taking him back to the hotel."  
Patrick nodded, but barely heard. How was this happening...why was it happening? This was Maria, who told him not to kill spiders because they killed mosquitoes. How could she have ordered this? How could she just stand by and watch?  
The girl's screams were cut off a moment later. Charizard licked its lips, then looked at Maria, waiting for the next command. Maria looked at the house, tapping her toe. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke two words.  
"Burn it."  
Charizard reared up and unleashed a torrent of white hot flame. The house didn't stand a chance. Patrick couldn't take it anymore. He turned and ran, not even hearing his footsteps over the roar of the fire. He didn't stop running until he made it back to the gates of Cyrano Town. Then he power walked to the inn, where he saw Joe waiting.  
"Come on guys," he said quietly. "We're on the second floor."  
In a haze, Patrick followed him. His mind was still struggling to combine the two Marias in his head: the one who'd raised him and the one who had watched Charizard destroy the girl with no remorse. It was giving him a blinding headache and an even worse heartache. Joe opened the door, to reveal a nice and homey room, with no Andy in sight. The mystery was soon solved when he saw the closed bathroom door and heard the retching noises coming from inside it.  
Patrick sank onto one of the beds. All he could see was the girl, and the terror and fear in her face as Charizard lunged at her...he didn't realize he was shaking until he felt Pete's arm around him. He wasn't crying, but he felt like it. This must be what shock feels like. When he was younger, Maria would always make him a cup of hot chocolate when he freaked out like this...Maria. He began shaking even harder.  
"Hey, hey, shhhh," Pete whispered. He started rubbing Patrick's arm. "I'm right here. Don't worry. I'm here."  
Patrick began to calm down and his eyes began (almost against his will) to close. The last thing he felt before he fell asleep was Pete's arm wrapped around him, and the last thing he heard was Pete whispering softly.  
...  
Maria came in about an hour later. All of the boys were asleep. To her, Patrick looked just like he did when he was younger. It broke her heart.  
She had known Patrick was there the entire time. But he was growing up. She just hoped he'd be able to handle what was ahead. She kissed his forehead and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for nothing.


	6. Lots of Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to meet the two new Gym Leaders this chapter...who do you think it's gonna be? :D

Patrick woke up with a start. He had worried that Pete would be gone when he woke up, but Pete was nestled in an armchair by the bed. When he was sleeping, he looked like one of those baby angels in the toilet paper commercials. Patrick had the strangest desire to poke his cheeks, but he decided against it. Luckily, he wasn't shaking the way he had been last night. God, he felt very naked without Pete's arm around him. It was like when Sylveon -  
Christ. Sylveon. He hadn't seen Sylveon since yesterday, after the battle with Gerard. He frantically began searching through his stuff for the Poke Ball. With a sigh of relief, he found it in his pocket. He pressed the button, and out popped Sylveon. It looked up at him with pure happiness in its eyes. "Sylveon," it murmured, snuggling up to him.  
"Hey Sylveon," he whispered, rubbing its head. "Guess that I'm a bad Trainer for leaving you locked up all night, huh?" Sylveon just snuggled closer and made small noises of contentment.  
"Oh good," came Andy's voice. Patrick looked up to see Andy, wearing a fresh black T-shirt that showed off his tattoos rather nicely. "You're awake."  
"Andy?" Patrick's voice was smaller than he expected. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"  
Andy looked at him with something like concern in his eyes. "Yeah, of course." He looked outside into the hallway. Then he turned to Patrick, saying, "There's an open lounge over there. Does that work for you?" Patrick nodded and Andy held the door to go to the lounge. All Patrick really noticed was the hideous floral print of the furniture. But it was comfy.  
Andy sat next to Patrick on the couch. "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked quietly. In that moment, Andy seemed so approachable, so open, so much like a goddamn teddy bear that Patrick just wanted to curl up in a tiny ball and cry.  
"So, um," Patrick was really nervous. Like, worse than when he had to go to the elementary school dance, and that was some serious anxiety. "How did you, um, how did you know when you, ah, when you liked Joe?"  
Rather than laugh, like Patrick feared he would, Andy leaned back and sighed. "I don't know...it was more like we were friends, and then I started getting this feeling. It was like -"  
"Like you had drank some hot chocolate and it spread," Patrick finished. Andy glanced at him.  
"Exactly," he said. "So, you really like someone?"  
Patrick nodded.  
"Do you know who?"  
Once again, he nodded.  
A pause. "Do you want to tell me?"  
Here Patrick paused. Did he trust Andy enough to confess one of his deepest secrets? Well, if he didn't trust Andy, who would he trust? Brendon? Yeah, no. He wasn't sure he could ever trust Brendon again. But he could feel something different from the other guys. They wouldn't do what Brendon did. He took a deep breath.  
"IthinkIlikePete," he whispered really fast. Luckily, Andy spoke fluent Fast and Quiet Patrick. He smiled, a gentle giant of a smile. He opened his arms for a hug and Patrick happily obliged.  
"Thanks for telling me," Andy said quietly.  
"If I can't trust you guys, I can't trust anyone," Patrick said, just as quietly as Andy. "Thanks for making it easy to talk to you." Sylveon seemed to pout that it was being left out, so Andy called out Skiploom to make it feel better.  
At this moment, Joe walked in. Andy brightened and scooted over so that Joe could sit next to him. "What'd I miss?" he asked. Andy shot Patrick a look, like, This is your deal, you tell him. Patrick took another deep breath.  
"IthinkIlikePete," he whispered really quietly. However, Joe did not speak Fast and Quiet Patrick. He furrowed his brow. "What?"  
Andy tapped Joe's arm. "He finally got it. What we were talking about back at the house."  
"Oh!" Joe's eyes lit up with understanding. "I understand. Congrats, man."  
"So what now?" Patrick asked. He was very new to this whole gay thing, and he needed an expert's opinion. "What should I do now?"  
Andy glanced at Joe. "I think you should tell Pete." Patrick's heart exploded out of his chest. At least, it felt like that. "Not that!" Andy quickly clarified. "Just the gay part. He'll think it's cool, don't worry."  
"I'm sorry, just, the look on your face was priceless," Joe snickered. One glare from Andy was enough to make him shut up. "Sorry."  
"Anyway, I would tell him sooner rather than later," Andy said. "That way it doesn't seem like you're hiding it from him or anything."  
"And we could conveniently go somewhere else so that you and Pete could talk," Joe said slyly, winking at Andy. Again, Andy gave him a look. "He was still asleep when I left, so yeah."  
"You don't have to tell him now," Andy said soothingly. "But...do it soon. I have the feeling that once we go back to Metal Town, Pete's going to need as much support as he can get."  
Patrick nodded.  
"Welcome, young Padawan," Joe said, smiling. "You are one of us now."  
"He was always one of us, silly," Andy smiled and punched Joe's arm.  
"That's true," Joe nodded. "Anyone else hungry? I'm starving."  
"We'll go eat once Pete wakes up," Andy said. "Why don't we go let the Pokemon stretch their legs? It's been a long night."  
"What about stretching?" Pete groggily entered the room. Patrick hadn’t noticed before, but sometime in the night he had changed into a tight black long-sleeved shirt that made him look really good. He rubbed his eyes and yawned.  
"Morning Sleeping Beauty," Andy said. "We're taking the Pokemon for a walk. Want to come with?"  
"Yeah, that'd be great," Pete stretched, showing just the barest slice of skin. Just looking at it was intoxicating - Patrick's blood was probably double the legal limit just from a glimpse. Jesus. "Let me go get Woobat and change."  
"You should too, Patrick," Joe shot Patrick dagger eyes that clearly said Take this chance and run like a Crybaby is chasing you. "Then we can go straight to breakfast."  
"Is food all you ever think about?" Andy demanded as Patrick followed Pete back into the room. He went over to his bag (conveniently placed at the foot of the bed) and pulled out a fresh shirt. His heart twisted.  
He had picked the red and black flannel shirt that Brendon had given him.  
Well, of course he had, he told himself. You and Brendon were still friends when this shirt came into play. And it's soft and warm. Screw Brendon. This was a great shirt.  
"Hey Woobat," came Pete's voice, sounding pleased. "Ready to go play with Drifloom, Skiploom, and Sylveon?" At the name Sylveon, Woobat squealed and jumped a little. Pete grinned.  
Patrick began mentally psyching himself. You got this, he said to himself. It's no big deal - just another conversation with Pete. Except that he was lying to himself. This was a really big deal. This wasn't just another conversation with Pete. If he messed up, then how could he continue his Pokemon journey?  
How would he go on without Pete?  
"Patrick?" Pete's voice floated like an angel into Patrick's head. "Are you going to stare at that shirt all day?"  
Patrick shook his head. "No," He said, steeling himself. Here goes nothing. "I, um, I have something to -" he gulped. "- to tell you."  
"You're gay, aren't you?" Pete was rummaging through his coat, and he said it so nonchalantly that Patrick's mind almost didn't process what he said. Almost. Once he realized what Pete had said, his mind froze. Oh. My. God. Pete. Knows. He was pretty sure he looked like a Magikarp.  
Pete turned around, a happy smile on his face. It vanished when he saw the look on Patrick's. "Oh, fuck," he said. "I was joking. I wasn't serious. Please forgive me."  
"Uh -"  
"No, seriously, I'm really really sorry -"  
"Pete!" Patrick said loudly. "I was going to say that anyway. It's cool."  
Pete blinked. "Really?"  
"Yeah."  
"For real?"  
"Yup."  
"You're really gay?"  
"As far as I'm aware."  
"Oh my God, that's so cool, come give me a hug."  
This was officially the best moment of Patrick's life. He was hugging Pete, and it was awesome. It was like hugging a warm pillow. After what seemed like a blissful eternity, Pete let go. He opened his mouth, but closed it.  
"I should...I should go change," Patrick said lamely. Pete nodded slowly. "So...yeah. I'm going to go change." He walked to the bathroom (were his feet filled with lead or something?) and closed the door.  
Once he was alone, he allowed the giant grin that had been building up inside of him to reach his face. He, Patrick, had just hugged Pete, probably (no, not probably, most definitely) the hottest guy that he had ever met.  
And Pete had hugged him back.  
He shook himself out of his thoughts and got dressed. Phase 1 of his plan was complete. Now he had to figure out how to ask Pete out. Arguably the hardest part of the job. Should he build up suspense? Should he just flat out ask? Casual or not? Goddamn, this whole planning thing was hard. Maybe he would get inspired when his stomach wasn't empty. He left the bathroom, only to be greeted by the strangest thing he had ever seen.  
He decided that the best course of action was to just ask about it. "Pete?"  
"Hm?"  
"Why the hell are you wearing a bro tank?" Yes, Pete was indeed wearing a bro tank. But it looked really good on him. So good, in fact, that Patrick doubted that anything could look better. Magikarp would develop talent first.  
"Because it's intimidating," Pete grinned. "Nothing is scarier than an emo guy in a bro tank."  
"True enough."  
"Are you two done yet?" Joe poked his head in. "I'm starving."  
"Yeah," Pete finished shoving stuff in his coat. "We'll be down in a second." Joe did a weird eyebrow thing and left.  
"Got all of your stuff?" Pete asked Patrick.  
"Ummm...." Patrick looked around. "Yeah, I have everything."  
"Great, let's go," Pete pulled on the coat and glanced back at Patrick with a mischievous glint in his eyes.  
"You're going to have to lead," Patrick said. "Because I have no idea where anything is."  
Pete grinned wickedly. "Worst decision of your life. But you and I...we're going to have some fun."  
Patrick's mind flashed somewhere else as he followed Pete out the door. "What kind of fun?"  
Pete winked. "You'll see."  
Patrick tried not to look too excited. But he couldn't help it; he was really excited. His three friends had stuck with and accepted him. His crush hadn't pushed him away, but rather had accepted him with open arms. Literally. How could this get any better?  
Pete led him through a series of corridors that all looked the same (how did hotel staff keep them all straight?) until they made it to a small, somewhat hidden door. Pete turned and looked at him. His eyeliner made his eyes glow slightly in the dark. "You ready?" he asked. Patrick nodded. Pete opened the door and held it for him. He walked in and gasped. The room was completely open to the heavens - at least it looked like that. The ceiling was dark blue like the night, and it was full of stars. The moon glowed in the corner like a brightly illuminated orb.  
"Wow," Patrick breathed.  
"Yeah," Pete grinned. "It's called the Night Room. The hotel lady said that people come here if they need some space."  
"It's beautiful," Patrick whispered. Pete shifted.  
"Well, I just wanted to say, uh, thank you for telling me, um, about you being gay," Pete said. He looked really uncomfortable, but at least he was being honest about it. "I know it's really hard to tell people that, so I'm glad that you were okay with telling me. I know that I can be too gay to function sometimes -"  
"All the time."  
"Okay, fine, all the time. Beside the point. I just wanted you to know that I am your Fairy Gayfather. Which sounds weird, but it's a thing. If you need any gay advice, I am right here. Got it?"  
Patrick tried to come to terms with the fact that Pete had called himself a Fairy Gayfather. "Okay."  
"We should, ah," Pete looked away. Was he blushing? "We should go walk the Pokemon now."  
"Hey," Patrick touched his arm (too soon?). "This place was cool. Thanks for showing me." Pete nodded, and led the way back to the main area, where Joe and Andy were waiting.  
"Finally," Joe groaned. "You took forever."  
"Well, not really," Andy said. "You're just hungry."  
"Let's just walk," Patrick said. "Then we can get Joe some food."  
"I like that idea," Pete grinned, a sassy smirk back on his face. "Is there a trail or something nearby?"  
"Not really, but there's a really big yard out front," Andy pointed. "I think it'll work great."  
So the group took the Pokemon out to the yard. Woobat and Drifloon started playing tag in the sky while Skiploom, Sylveon, and Eevee chased each other around in the grass. Skiploom had an unfair advantage, because of its coloring, but the Pokemon still had fun. Meanwhile, the four wandered around casually chatting about everything from the size of Gerard's pants to soda preference.  
Suddenly some bushes rustled and everyone froze. Pete quietly gestured for Woobat to come over. The bushes rustled again, but this time a Deerling slowly walked out. It slowly looked around at the group but didn't notice Woobat hovering above. It began to walk away, towards the woods.  
"Woobat, confuse it!" Pete yelled, startling the Deerling. Woobat darted down and managed to confuse the Deerling. Pete pulled out a Poke Ball, breathed on it like a major league pitcher, and threw it at the Deerling. For Patrick, time seemed to slow down for an instant as the Poke Ball sailed through the air. The ball struck the Deerling's flank, and a red light encased it. It vanished into the ball. Everyone held their breath. This was a crucial moment - you had about ten seconds for the Poke Ball to do its thing. If a Pokemon was under just the right conditions, it would stay in the Poke Ball. If it wasn't weakened enough, it would break out and the Poke Ball was useless. A few painfully long seconds later, the Poke Ball clicked, meaning that capture was successful. everyone let out the breath they'd been holding.  
"Great job, man!" Joe clapped Pete on the back. "Your first Pokemon. That's pretty great."  
"It's so cute!" Andy squealed. His Eevee ran in a little circle in excitement.  
"That's really cool," Patrick smiled. Pete grinned and looked at the Poke Ball that he was holding in his hand.  
"Okay, let's go eat now," Joe said. "My stomach is literally growling like Andy -" Andy's face had turned bright scarlet and he punched Joe's chest so hard that Joe literally let out a gasp of air. Pete looked at Patrick and began snickering.  
"Food's a good idea," Patrick said, trying to bring everyone back together. "Let's go eat something." Pete, still snickering, led the way. They walked into the breakfast area, and their jaws dropped. The breakfast area was spectacular. There was everything. Like, everything. Pancakes, French toast, regular toast, oatmeal, English muffins, regular muffins...Patrick could feel his pants getting tighter just looking at it.  
Andy sighed. "Now to find out where the vegan food is."  
Patrick was confused. "But isn't the meat already separate?"  
"You're thinking vegetarian," Andy said. "I'm a vegan, so that's no animal products or by products. So no milk or eggs."  
"How do you eat anything good?" Patrick asked. "That sounded really bad, I'm sorry, your vegan muffins are great -"  
Andy grinned. "It's cool. But fruit, especially bananas, are great substitutes. The vegan muffins had bananas instead of eggs."  
"Oh," Patrick said. "I get it now."  
Pete came over to them, already with a plate full of food. "This is not going to eat itself, you guys." Andy and Joe went to find vegan food, while Patrick decided to try every variety of muffin in the room. All told, about seven, not including three vegan flavors. I'm probably going to regret this, he thought. But...whatever. He found Pete at a table in the corner, munching on some bacon.  
"Are you a vegan too?" Pete asked suspiciously as he eyed his plate.  
"No, I just have a serious addiction to hotel muffins," Patrick responded, taking a bite out of one of the muffins. Mmm. Blueberry.  
"Then try this bacon," Pete practically shoved the entire strip of bacon in Patrick's face. "It's really good."  
"Okay," Patrick took a bite (was this indirect kissing because Pete had eaten out of it?). "Holy crap." The bacon was good. Like, just the right crunch and it had just enough fat and holy mother of God it was good.  
"I know, right?" Pete gave him another piece. "I think the pigs are magic."  
"They're not," came a girl's voice. The two turned to see a girl with a messy brown bun and a green penguin sweater typing on a laptop. She pushed her pink glasses up her nose before continuing. "The pig is kosher. That's why it tastes so good."  
"But I thought that pigs were unkosher?" Pete looked confused.  
"What's kosher?" Patrick asked.  
"Kosher means that ultra-Jews don't have a problem with it," the girl snorted. "Actually it means that it's cool with Jewish laws. Technically, pigs aren't kosher, but I maintain that bacon's all good. Which is why this bacon is magic in your mouth." She looked back at her screen. "I actually don't know why this conversation just happened. I was never here." She pressed a key on her keyboard and -  
Patrick blinked. Why was he staring at an empty seat? What had he just been thinking about? Where had the last minute of his life gone?  
"What are you guys looking at?" Joe asked, sitting down across from Patrick.  
"I...have no idea," Pete said, shaking his head. "But the bacon's really good."  
"Joe," Andy said as he sat down. "The chairs spin!" He proceeded to spin in the chair for the next twenty seconds.  
Two people sat down at the table next to them, both looking nervous. They were both guys, and one had a gray beanie shoved on top of bright fire truck red hair. The other had a T-shirt on with strange lines wrapping around his upper arms. They spoke to each other in quiet voices.  
"So, Andy," Patrick asked, trying to keep things normal-ish. "Did you find vegan food?"  
"Yeah!" Andy grinned really widely. "when I asked, the guy's all like 'Oh yeah, we totally have vegan food over here' and he showed me. It actually looks like something a non-vegan would eat."  
"There's vegan food here?" the guy with the weird tattoos asked timidly. Andy tried to spin around in the chair, but it got stuck.  
"Fellow vegan," Andy said brightly. "You're in good hands. There's vegan muffins and pancakes over here. I'm Andy, and that's Joe, and Pete, and Patrick." He pointed to each of them as he said their name. Patrick smiled and waved.  
The guy turned bright red. “Oh no, I’m not vegan, I’m just...curious I guess. I’m Tyler, and this is Josh.” He gestured to his beanie-wearing friend, who nodded.  
"Nice to meet you guys," Andy beamed. "Why don't you guys eat with us?"  
"We couldn't possibly intrude -" Josh started, but Andy waved him off.  
"It's no problem," he said firmly.  
Once Andy, Josh, and Tyler had returned with food, Patrick asked, "So are you guys Trainers?"  
"We're Gym Leaders in training," Josh smiled.  
"Oh!" Patrick tried not to choke on his muffin. "You must be the two that Maria mentioned."  
Josh's eyes got really big. "As in Maria Brink, Maria?"  
"Yeah, she's my mom." Josh's eyes, if possible, got bigger.  
Suddenly, Patrick got a weird feeling, sort of like deja vu. He looked up from his muffin and froze. It was Brendon, laughing at something a guy (Patrick guessed he was Ryan Ross) said. One look at Pete confirmed that; he looked ready to murder something. His hands were clenched into tight fists and his knuckles were white. Patrick looked back at Brendon. He looked so happy. That should have been us. It should have been me and Brendon teaming up to take on the world.  
Then Brendon turned and made eye contact. His smile faded. He looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't know what. To be honest, Patrick didn't know what to say either. He knew what he was feeling. Putting those feelings into words, words that would make Brendon understand the pure emotional hell that he had put him through was the challenging part.  
Pete seemed to have no such limitations. He scooted out of his chair and was storming over to Ryan in one fluid movement. Oh shit, Patrick thought. He hurried over to Pete, just to make sure that he wouldn't try to impale Ryan with a butter knife or something. As he got there, he heard Pete hissing in a low voice, "Why? Just...Jesus Christ, Ryan, you seriously dumped me for a guy you met online?"  
Ryan looked highly uncomfortable. To Patrick, he resembled a fairy from that one Shakespeare play, where the queen got high and made out with the donkey. "It wasn't personal, Pete -"  
"Goddamnit, Ross, of course it was personal!" Pete slammed his fist on the table. Luckily, they were the only ones left in the dining area, so no one except the little group jumped. "You were my only friend, and you left me on the off chance that this Brendon guy -" Here Brendon shifted uncomfortably. " - would be your true partner."  
"Do you mean partner in the Trainer sense of the word, or something else entirely, Wentz?" Ryan responded icily. Pete looked like he'd been slapped. Then he started exuding this angry aura so fierce that Patrick felt the need to arm himself.  
"Pokemon battle," Pete growled. "Right here. Right now."  
Ryan smirked, making him look even more impish. "Okay."  
Pete called out Woobat, and Ryan called out a Snubbull. Pete snorted. "Of course you pick the Pokemon as annoying as you." Woobat tried to snort, which looked adorable.  
"And you had to pick a Pokemon that was as emo as you," Ryan shot back.  
"Damn right I did," Pete said. He pulled off his coat and handed it to Patrick. It weighed about five pounds. "Thanks Patrick."  
"No problem."  
Tyler tapped Patrick's shoulder. "Why is he wearing a bro tank?"  
"He's trying to be intimidating," Patrick said. "We're all at a bit of a loss when it comes to that bro tank, so...yeah." Tyler nodded.  
Meanwhile, Ryan and Snubbull were getting really frustrated, because Pete and Woobat were dancing around all of their attacks. Suddenly Woobat perked up, and it dove down at Snubbull and began tackling it. Pete smirked. "How's that for your ex-favorite emo?" Woobat screeched a battle cry and finished off Snubbull in one clean blow. Ryan looked at a loss. Pete blew him a kiss and said, "I'll save the middle finger for you!" in a perky voice. Woobat settled on his shoulder and did its best version of a smirk.  
"Whatever, I don't even care," Ryan called Snubbull back to its Poke Ball and stormed out. Brendon gave Patrick one last look and followed him out.  
"Well, that was pretty intense," Josh said. You don't know the half of it, kid, Patrick thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HECK YEAH IT'S TYLER AND JOSH
> 
> in an earlier draft, the two gym leaders were this old couple i used to be friends with but since we are not friends really anymore, i changed it so it wouldn't be awkward. so if you were one of the og readers and you're like "what happened to austin and ben???" well, i assume they're doing well


	7. Showdown With Conservative Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so i just got broken up with so i'm doing this to feel like i'm accomplishing something
> 
> hmu if you want to commission me for a story

After defeating Ryan, Pete seemed a lot happier, or at least less violent. He even consented to trying some of Andy's vegan pancakes (which he said were good).   
"We should start heading back up north," Tyler said. "But thank you guys for being so nice to us."  
"No problem," Patrick smiled. "You're cool guys. Why wouldn't we be nice?"  
Josh and Tyler waved goodbye as they set out to go back north for their Gym Leader training. Everyone waved until they were gone. "Well they were nice guys," Joe said.  
Pete suddenly looked very green and uncertain, which was beginning to give Patrick mild heartache. Damn, they should make medicine for that. They'd make a fortune just off of him.  
"Are you okay?" Andy asked Pete.  
Pete just slowly shook his head no. "I feel like I'm about to vomit, and my insides are all knotted up, and -" He slowly sank to the floor. "- I just feel like shit."  
Patrick sank down next to him. "is it because of the talk with Cons- I mean, your dad?"  
Pete looked at him sideways. "Were you about to say Conservative Father? God love you, Stump Boy."  
"Don't avoid the question, Gay Boy."  
Pete exhaled. "Yeah, I think so."  
"I mean, anxiety is natural," Joe sat down on Pete's other side. "You're going to confront your dad about what he's been hiding from you for the past few years of your life. It's okay to feel nervous."  
"Pete?" Andy was looking out the window. "What does your dad look like?"  
"What?" Pete looked up. "Why?"  
"Because there's a guy who looks like you in a white lab coat and skinny khakis outside looking lost," Andy pointed. Everyone looked outside; it was Professor Wentz, looking confused.  
"He is wearing skinny khakis!" Pete said gleefully. "Goddamnit, Father, I have rubbed off on you!" He took a deep breath, stood up slowly, then stopped and looked at the guys. "Will you guys be there with me?" he asked in a small voice. In that moment, he seemed so small, so vulnerable, so raw. It made Patrick's heart turn to mush and seep out of his spine. That seemed to happen a lot around Pete Wentz. So he decided to take a page out of his book and be a bit sassier than usual. Maybe not the best response, but this was his heart acting and not his head. The results were bound to be a little different. He took a small, barely noticeable breath. "Was that really up for debate, Pete?" he said. Pete looked at him.  
"Were you just sarcastic?"  
Patrick blushed. "A little," he mumbled, fixing his fedora. Not that it needed fixing. He was just a little embarrassed. But Pete was smiling, and there was a playful, delighted fire in his eyes. Wait...was there something else there too? Or was he just wishfully thinking?  
"I love -" Pete faltered. "I love that you said that. Clearly I'm a good influence!" He grinned really widely, which made Patrick smile too. Andy and Joe gave him a thumbs up.  
A knock on the door. Pete tensed up. No need to look, because there would only be one person knocking on the door of a hotel breakfast area door after breakfast had been served. Andy gave Pete one last look before he opened the door. Professor Wentz was standing there, looking like a fish out of water. Well, of course, Patrick thought. He probably hasn't left that lab in God knows how long.   
"Excuse me," the Professor's voice was shaking. "Is my son here?" Andy opened the door wider, so that Professor Wentz could see his son. Pete looked like he was about to cry, which looked like a sad puppy. If puppies could convey pasts full of pain, frustration, and loneliness as effectively as Pete could. His face was like a picture book - even a little kid could read all of the feelings on it. He was angry, and sad, and confused, because he loved his dad, and didn't know how to feel all of these emotions at once. And it was eating him from the inside out. It was written all over Pete's face, like Sharpie. Except it was Sharpie that had to be interpreted, not literal black Sharpie on Pete's face. That would be weird. Okay, Patrick was done with Sharpie metaphors now.  
"How'd you know where I was?" Pete asked.  
"Um," Professor Wentz looked at the floor. "Your friend Mikey stopped by last night and told me to, ah, get my head out of my ass and be a dad to my son. He said you were in Cyrano Town, so I came."  
Joe inched over to Patrick and whispered, "Since when has Mikey Way given a damn about Pete?"  
"I dunno," Patrick replied. His mind was more focused on the fact that this was the most interest Mikey had shown in Pete since they had met. Did he have competition for Pete's heart? Realistically, if given the option between Patrick and Mikey, Pete would always choose Mikey. He'd already made the fact that he like liked Mikey clear. So, if Mikey liked Pete back, Patrick was screwed.  
"I'm sorry," Professor Wentz was saying. "I'm sorry that I was such a terrible father after your mom left. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you more, and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the bass."  
"Yeah," Pete looked pretty pissed. "It would have been really nice to know that she wasn't, you know, disgusted, and repulsed, and disappointed in me. I know that was one of your favorite lines."  
There was a tear in one of Professor Wentz's eyes. "I shouldn't have told you that."  
"And I shouldn't have had to try and change myself to try and please you!" Pete growled. He let out a choked breath. "God, I just wanted to hear you say, just once, 'Yeah, I'm proud of my son, just the way he is.' That is all that I wanted." Now everyone was crying.  
"I am proud of you, Pete," the Professor wiped his eyes. "I don't say it enough, but I am so proud of you."  
"You're required to say that," Pete mumbled. "You're my dad."  
"But it's true," Professor Wentz gently touched Pete's arm. You could practically see the electrical current run through their connected touch. Pete looked up at his dad. "Pete, you've forced me to change the way that I see the world. When you were younger, I still saw the world as black and white, boys liked girls, so on and so forth. But then you told me that you were gay, and then that view changed. Was it weird for me? Yes, and in response, I fell into my work. It was a terrible decision, and I should have been there for you. But I was proud, Pete, that you managed to retain who you were in spite of a conservative old buzzard like me. I was too stubborn to admit that, until now. I don't want to lose my son." He took a second to wipe his eyes. "I am really truly sorry that I never told you all of that."  
"Well, people tend to stop communicating with me," Pete looked away. "You did, Ryan did, and so did Mom when she stopped writing."  
"She didn't," Professor Wentz said. Pete whipped his head up.   
"What?"  
"She didn't stop writing to you," Professor Wentz mumbled, not looking at Pete. "I -"  
"What? You did what, Dad?" Pete's voice was breaking. Just like Patrick's heart.  
"I stopped giving them to you," Professor Wentz's eyes were closed. "You weren't reading them, so I just stopped giving them to you. I thought it would be easier and less painful that way."  
"Did Mom know that you stopped giving them to me?" Pete demanded. Woobat chose this moment to jump onto Pete's lap and snuggle closer to him.  
"No, she didn't," Professor Wentz said quietly.  
"Why?" Pete's question was choked out like a dying breath and hung in the air like it was dangling from a rope.  
"You weren't the only one who was angry at her, Pete," Professor Wentz said.  
"So, this was your way of getting revenge?" Pete threw his hands in the air. "You used the letters as...as tools to satisfy your own agenda?"  
"I know that's what it sounds like," Professor Wentz said calmly, his professional composure returning. Don't, this is the most emotional you've gotten with your son, Patrick wanted to cry out. But he stayed quiet. "But I didn't want to talk to her, I didn't want to see her, I didn't want to have anything to do with her. So I just held onto the letters and told myself that I would give them to you when you were ready to re-establish contact."  
"So it was easier on you?" Pete asked scathingly. "You didn't want to deal with all of the feelings so you locked them in a box, away from everyone else so that you didn't have to deal with it?"  
Professor Wentz locked his jaw. "Yes. I guess I did."  
Pete locked his jaw too. "Fine then." The two stared at each other for a minute or two. Then Pete let out a breath and lowered his head. "I'm tired of being angry. It's exhausting, and I'm just ready to move on and start fresh. Work for you?"  
"That sounds great," Professor Wentz said, clearly relieved. "I'm sorry for everything."  
"Me too," Pete said. Then they hugged, and Patrick felt like standing and applauding the way people did at movies when everything turned out alright in the end.  
"Oh!" said Professor Wentz. "Almost forgot." He reached into an inside pocket of his coat (a thing that he and his son shared: love of coats and pockets) and pulled out a small stack of envelopes. Pete gasped.  
"Are those -"  
The Professor nodded. "I forgot which shoe box I put them in, but I found them eventually."  
Pete took the letters gently, as though they were ancient documents that would crumble into tiny little pieces at his touch. He stared at them for a second, then threw his arms around his dad, who looked a little startled, but relaxed into it.  
"I'm so glad that worked out," Andy whispered to Patrick and Joe.


	8. Aqualia City

Once Professor Wentz had left to go back to Metal Town, the group prepared to leave for Aqualia City to take on the Water-type Gym Leader Oli Sykes.   
"Have you ever been to the amusement park?" Andy asked excitedly, steering the conversation away from magic and gingers. "The Aqualia City Amusement Park?"  
Patrick looked at Pete. "I haven't really been anywhere outside of Metal Town, so no."  
"Same," Pete echoed. Andy's eyes widened.  
"You mean you haven't been to the greatest amusement park in all time?" he asked in shock. "That's going to change. After the Gym battle, we're all going to go. It's only the most fun ever!" He proceeded to go on for five minutes about the various features of the amusement park, which included vegan elephant ears and funnel cakes (Patrick was convinced that elephant ears were actually ripped off of live elephants until Andy and Joe explained otherwise), at least 20 roller coasters of increasing intensity, and the scariest water slide known to mankind.  
"Okay, Andy," Pete cut him off at six minutes. "The fact that you were able to go on about this for five minutes is good enough for me."  
"Yay!" Andy clapped his hands excitedly. "That was my favorite place to go when I was little."  
"It's really difficult for me to imagine you without tattoos," Joe grinned at Andy. "You're a walking tattoo."  
"I'm not a walking tattoo," Andy protested mildly. "Mitch Lucker is."  
"Who?" Patrick asked in confusion.  
"Oh, Mitch?" Joe thought. "He's this guy who just kind of goes around the region doing stuff."  
"Yeah," Andy echoed. "Saving people, hunting the Crybabies, being wherever Mikey Way happens to be..." Suddenly his eyes widened and he turned to Joe, gesturing wildly. After a second, Joe's eyes widened and they both began squealing excitedly.  
"I swear to God they have ESP," Pete told Patrick. "I also have no idea what they're talking about."  
"So, basically a tattoo that goes around doing awesome stuff?" Patrick asked, trying to bring Andy and Joe back to reality.  
"Yeah, pretty much," Andy's voice was climbing steadily higher. "Joe, what if they're...them?"  
"You said that about those Josh and Tyler guys that we saw. I am not taking your guesses seriously."  
"But for real though," Andy looked extremely serious. "This could be it!"  
"What are you talking about?" Patrick asked.  
"Hold on a second," Andy coughed, then spoke in a voice eerily like Morgan Freeman. "There is a prophecy."  
"Goddamnit, isn't there always a prophecy?" Pete demanded.  
"Silence, my little emo son," Andy commanded in the uncharacteristically low voice. "It was foretold by the Lord Elton John before he ascended to the heavens that there would be a set of lovers, who would destroy the forces of evil that plagued this land. It probably rhymed, but I don't remember." Andy coughed again, and his voice went back to normal. "I've been trying to figure out who they'll be, but it's not easy."  
"The Lord Elton John?" Patrick asked.  
"Did you fall asleep in history?" Joe asked.  
"Yeah," Patrick admitted.  
"Well, you know that Elton John was the first to bond with a Pokemon?" Joe asked, and Patrick nodded. "Well, he basically made it possible to catch Pokemon and train them. It's relatively new, only like fifty years or so old. Anyway, towards the end of his career, he mysteriously vanished. People claimed that they saw him travel on the wings of a legendary Pokemon into the heavens. But he made the prophecy before he left, and people have been holding onto that."  
"Oh."  
As they spoke, the gates of Aqualia City loomed ahead of them. They looked like something straight out of The Little Mermaid or something. Suddenly a small creature leaped out of the bushes right in front of them. It was small, pink, and adorable. "Jigglypuff!" it yelped.  
"I'm going for it!" Patrick hissed. Sylveon jumped in front of him and waved its ribbons intimidatingly. "Sylveon, tackle!" Sylveon leaped at the Pokemon - Jigglypuff - and swiped at it with its ribbons to confuse it. It worked; Jigglypuff spun around in circles, trying to figure out where Sylveon was. It fell down, and Sylveon stepped out of the way. Patrick took a deep breath and threw the Poke Ball. It hit Jigglypuff directly on the head. A few seconds later, the ball clicked.  
"It worked?" Patrick asked in disbelief.  
"No, Jigglypuff just decided to take a nap in the Poke Ball," Pete said sarcastically. "Of course it worked! You caught a Pokemon!"  
I really did, Patrick thought. I really just caught a Pokemon. A feeling of elation swelled up inside of Patrick. One of the moments he had dreamed about since he could walk. This was like a tipping point for the rest of his Pokemon journey: after this, it was defeating the challenging Kairan, Cirice, and Fyodoren Cities, and then it was Blood City, where he would face Maria.  
And he would win.  
They walked through the gates. Instantly the group was greeted by the bright lights, loud noises, and disgusting yet appealing smell of gas, cooking food, and cigarette smoke that most big cities seemed to have. A large sign screamed in their faces to CHALLENGE OLI SYKES! RIDE THE WAVE OF VICTORY OR DROWN IN THE UNDERTOW OF DEFEAT! Joe blinked.  
"Well, they're a bit pushy, aren't they?" he said. "What if I came to visit my ailing aunt Dolores?"  
"You have an ailing aunt Dolores?" Pete said skeptically.  
Joe shook his head. "Nope. But it's a good thought though."  
Meanwhile, Andy had wandered over to a shiny golden gate. His face was alight with a wonder that you didn't usually see in men as tattooed as he was. In fact, you saw the same look on the little kids' faces, the little kids that were running around in the amusement park that Andy was staring at. The other guys moved over to stand beside him.  
"It looks so wonderful," Andy breathed. "Just like it did when I was little." Joe moved over to stand by Andy, and they held hands. They stood there, holding hands, silhouetted in the bright, flashing lights, of the amusement park. It was one of the most romantic things that Patrick had ever seen. A thought occurred to him, and he elbowed Pete.  
"What if Andy and Joe are the ones in the prophecy?" he asked.  
"I don't know," Pete shook his head. "I'm not even sure how much I buy the whole prophecy thing..." His sentence just kind of faded as he stared at something behind Patrick. Patrick turned to see a sign pointing the way to South James Street and the Aqualia City Gym. Pete looked hopeful and nervous and confused all at the same time. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a piece of paper. It's the note from the bass, Patrick realized. His mom's letter.  
"45 South James Street," Pete whispered. He sounded like he wanted to hope but he didn't want to get let down. "She's so close." Without another word he was gone, racing down the street.  
"Pete!" Patrick yelled. Andy and Joe turned around and came over. "Goddamnit, wait for us!" He ran down the pavement, dodging the people walking and the wild Pidgey pecking for bread crumbs. People looked at him a bit oddly, but he didn't care. He kept his eyes locked on the back of Pete's trench coat flying in the breeze. He would not lose Pete in the labyrinth of city streets.  
They turned down South James Street. It looked respectable enough: the houses and yards were all well put together, and the people that were sitting on their front porches smiled and waved as they passed by. Patrick waved back, and almost turned Pete into a pancake as he crashed into him. They had arrived at 45 South James Street.  
The house was light blue, almost the same color as the sky at the moment. The steps were white - no, more like a cream. Crap. He had spent too much time watching Say Yes to the Dress with Maria. There were flowers, white lilies. They looked like polka dots against the house's blue backdrop.  
Pete stood frozen at the foot of the steps, just staring at the solid, wooden door. Patrick moved over to stand by him. "Are you okay?"  
"What if she's not even here?" Pete asked, his eyes locked on the door. "What if she moved or something? God knows how long that letter was sitting in that bass." He gulped, and he was beginning to tear up. Patrick wanted so badly to reach over and rub Pete's back the way that Andy and Joe did with each other, but he thought that would be weird given that they weren't dating. God, which would be great.  
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Andy said. "We're all with you 100%."  
"Woobat!" Woobat agreed, nestling into Pete's shoulder. It looked like a big, gray, winged cotton ball on Pete's shoulder. Pete slowly walked up the steps. It was as though his feet were filled with lead. A long pause before he rang the doorbell. After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened, revealing a woman with dark hair. She covered her mouth with her hand.  
"Oh my god," she said. "Is that really you, Pete?"  
"It's really me, Mom," Pete said. They hugged for a while, and then Pete said, "Mom, these are my friends Patrick, Andy, and Joe. We're all journeying together."  
Pete's mom looked confused. "What about Ryan?"  
Pete hesitated. "Long story."  
"Well, come on in," Pete's mom opened the door wider. "I can see we have a lot to catch up on."  
Pete's mom's house was really nice on the inside too. It was all calm colors: greens and blues and lavenders. It smelled like pumpkin spice. The one thing that really stood out to Patrick, though, was all of the pictures of Pete. About 95% of the pictures on the walls were of a much younger version of Pete. He was (if possible) more adorable as a child than he was now.  
Pete's mom gestured to a large couch in the living room. "Go on, have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink? Water, tea, soda?"  
"I'm good, thank you," Andy said. Patrick and Joe echoed him. Meanwhile, Pete had wandered over to the mantle. He picked up a card and looked at it. It was clearly homemade and slightly yellow with age.  
"I can't believe you kept this," Pete murmured.  
"The Mother's Day card from kindergarten?" Pete's mom smiled from the living room doorway. "Of course I kept it. I kept everything that you gave me." Pete smiled and set the card down.  
"How long have you been living here?" Patrick asked.  
"Oh, about...five or six years?" Pete's mom sat down on a chair opposite them, holding a mug with what smelled like coffee inside. "I moved here as a kind of temporary thing at first, but then I fell in love with the area and the people so I decided to stay."  
"Is that when you sent the letter?" Joe asked.  
"Yes," Pete's mom nodded. "Are all of you from Metal Town?"  
"Just me," Patrick 'fixed' his fedora. "I kind of knew Pete from school, but then he almost ran me over and we got closer."  
Pete's mom fixed her son with a look. "Roller skates?"  
Pete grinned. "Yeah."  
"What am I going to do with you?" Pete's mom shook her head. "So...Joe and Andy. You guys aren't from Metal Town?"  
"I'm originally from Fyodoren City, but I was in the area," Andy said. "Also, Joe was going, and he wasn't about to leave me behind."  
"So you and Joe are a thing?" Pete's mom asked.  
Andy blushed and grinned really widely. "Yeah."  
"That's so sweet!" Pete's mom smiled. It was becoming clearer and clearer as to where Pete had gotten his intoxicating smile. "You four are a great group. I like you guys better than Ryan."  
"Aw, shucks," Patrick 'fixed' his fedora again. He was fairly certain that his face was bright red. "Thanks."  
"Why don't we give Pete and his mom some time to catch up?" Joe suggested. Pete sent them a relieved look, like thank you.  
"There's a coffee shop down the road by the Gym," Pete's mom pointed. "You could watch Ed do his thing, get a feel for how he battles."  
"Okay, thank you," Andy smiled. "Bye Pete." The three went outside. They walked a little ways in the direction of the gym before Andy whirled around with a wild look in his eyes.  
"So what did you guys talk about back at the hotel?" he asked eagerly. "You didn't say how he took it."  
Patrick was confused. "Who?"  
"President Obama," Joe rolled his eyes. "Pete, you dork!"  
"Oh," Patrick tried to remember. "He gave me a hug -"  
"Yes!" Andy whispered excitedly. "Keep going!"  
" - and then he took me to a dark room -"  
"Good God, this is escalating quickly," Joe commented. "Continue."  
" - and then he thanked me for telling him and said if I needed any advice, then he was my Fairy Gayfather."  
Andy blinked. "That's not what I thought was going to happen."  
"Keep it PG, Andy," Joe said. "I bet Pete was going to make a move, but then he chickened out."  
"What?" Patrick was so confused. "Are you saying that - that Pete likes me?"  
"I think he does," Andy nodded.  
"But he likes Mikey," Patrick protested. Inside, he was freaking out. Was this possible? Was this even happening? "He basically said that he liked Mikey in front of God and everybody."  
"Well..." Andy trailed off. "I haven't figured that part out yet. It is possible to like multiple people at the same time, so that's probably it."  
"Joe?" Patrick turned to him. "What do you think?"  
Joe sighed. "I think that Pete feels something for you. He might not know what it is yet, and he's trying to figure that out, hence his behavior."  
Patrick sat down. Pete feels something for me, he thought. If Joe and Andy can see it, then it's real. Right? His emotions swirled around inside of him like in that Elefun game, the one where the elephant's trunk would spit out butterflies and you had to catch them. His emotions were like the butterflies, spinning around inside of him. If this was real, and Pete did like him...what would he do? Well, he might run up to Mikey Way and yell, "Suck it Milky Gay I won!" That might be fun. But no. Odds were more likely to go in Mikey's favor. He was good-looking, sassy (like Pete), and had already won Pete over to a certain degree. He was perfect for Pete. Which killed Patrick to admit. He resolved to just get over Pete, because he was never going to be the one that Pete wanted.  
"Hey guys," Pete jogged up to them, and Patrick's resolve to not crush on him ran as fast as it could in the opposite direction. Of course it's not that easy, Patrick thought bitterly. "You waited for me?"  
"Of course," Patrick heard himself say. What? What? Brain, stop talking! Too late - more words were coming out before he could stop them. "We'll always wait for you."  
"Thanks," Pete smiled. "To the Gym?"  
"Naturally," Andy smiled back. "How did it go with your mom?"  
"Ah," Pete adjusted his coat and sighed. "She took the news about Ryan rather well."  
"I guess that's good," Patrick said.  
"But right now she's calling Dad and getting mad at him for withholding the letters from me," Pete sheepishly fixed his hood. "So I figured we'd go to the Gym and go back later."  
"Smart," Joe shuddered. "Angry women are nothing to be messed with."  
"And how would you know?" Andy elbowed him playfully.  
"My sister," Joe said seriously.  
Andy looked at him. "I didn't know you had a sister."  
"Yeah, well..." Joe was clearly uncomfortable. "We aren't on the best terms right now. You'll meet her when we go to Kairan City." Andy shot everyone a look that said stop pushing. They walked to the Gym with no further discussion on the topic.  
The Aqualia City Gym was breathtaking. It looked sort of like it was straight from a Disney movie. Lots of creams, golds, and too many shades of blue to name. A moat surrounded the Gym, but inside were people floating on inner tubes and laughing as they played with small Water type Pokemon. A lazy river, Patrick realized.  
The Gym's interior was just as amazing as the exterior. A hallway led to a massive room that looked like it could host a dolphin show. There was even a ginormous pool with two platforms on either end. Standing on one was a heavily tattooed guy - it must be Oli Sykes. On the other platform was a Trainer who looked really nervous but also really determined. Oli's Pokemon was a Corsola and the Trainer sent out a Squirtle. Corsola struck first, sending bullet-fast bubbles at Squirtle, who missed most of them but still got hit. Squirtle retaliated by attempting to tackle Corsola, but overshot and missed. Corsola tackled Squirtle, knocking it out. The challenging Trainer's platform fell out from underneath him, dunking him straight into the water. Patrick gulped. Shit. He was not a big fan of water. At all.  
"You'll do fine, Patrick," Pete whispered. Patrick started; had his fear shown that much on his face?  
"Yeah, you only get dunked if you lose," Joe said. "And you're not going to lose, Saint Patrick. You and Sylveon battled Gerard."  
"And lost."  
"But it's still battle experience," Andy pointed out. "And you guys won against the wild Pokemon."  
"Hey guys," the Gym Leader approached, toweling off his hair. "Which one of you is challenging?"  
"I am," Patrick stepped forward timidly.  
"How many Pokemon do you have?" Oli shook off the last couple of drops.  
"Um...two?"  
"Okay. Do you have a fear of water?"  
"Pardon?"  
"If you're scared of water, then we'll do a land battle," Oli said. "I know that not everyone likes the water as much as me, so I have that other option."  
"A land battle would be great," Patrick pulled the flannel shirt a little closer around him.  
"Cool," Oli pulled out two Poke Balls. "I'm going to go recharge Swanna and Corsola. Sally will take you to the land arena." A girl with dark hair nodded and led the way to a smaller room with (thank God) no giant pool. The girl left after making sure that everyone was comfortable.  
"Okay, Patrick," Pete turned his heavily-eyelined eyes on Patrick. It was sort of like how you would expect a defibrillator to feel like, in terms of his heart jumping. "You need to listen to us right now."  
"Is this an intervention?" Patrick asked, but Pete shushed him.  
"You're not listening," he said. "Look, you have a right to feel nervous. But you are going to kick Oli Sykes's British ass. We all believe in you." He hesitated. "I believe in you." The little voices in Patrick's head were back, and they sounded vaguely familiar as they whispered What are you waiting for? Kiss him. Kiss him. Then the door swung open. Damn. I'll set my clocks early because I know I'm always late, the voices grumbled before vanishing.  
"You got this Patrick!" Andy said encouragingly.  
"Knock 'em out, laddie," Joe said in his terrible Irish accent that made Patrick laugh.  
Pete just looked at him for a second. "I know you can do this," he said quietly. For the briefest of moments, Patrick considered listening to the tiny voices and kissing Pete right then and there. But he figured that would make him a schizophrenic and distract him for the rest of the battle. So he just nodded and turned to face Oli.  
"Go Jigglypuff!" he yelled. The new Jigglypuff leaped out, ready to fight.  
"You're up, Corsola!" Oli called. Corsola popped up. "Use Bubble Beam!"  
Jigglypuff was able to dodge the bubbles. "Use Pound!" Patrick said. Jigglypuff caught the surprised Corsola off guard and knocked it out with one Pound. Everyone (including Patrick) was shocked.  
"Damn. That is one strong Jigglypuff," Patrick heard Joe say. Corsola was sucked back into the Poke Ball, and Oli sent out Swanna.  
"Use Water Gun!" he said. Jigglypuff wasn't so lucky the second time around and got struck with the full blast of Swanna's attack. It wasn't knocked out, but it was very close.  
"Jigglypuff, come back!" Patrick said, before Oli and Swanna could destroy it. "Sylveon, finish him!"  
Oli laughed. "Finish me? We'll see."  
The moment Sylveon was out of the Poke Ball, Swanna was barraging it with water. Sylveon managed to dodge the water, but then Swanna started using Wing Attack. Sylveon growled and lashed out at Swanna, whipping it fiercely with its ribbons. Swanna was incapacitated for a moment and Sylveon glanced at Patrick. "Uh...use Tackle!" Sylveon slammed into Swanna, knocking it out on the floor.  
"Wow," Oli said, looking pretty flabbergasted. "Your Sylveon...did finish me." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a badge. "Here. You earned it."  
Patrick took the badge gingerly, as though it would break into tiny little pieces at his touch. The badge was shaped like a drop of water and shone like an actual teardrop that had crystallized into a form that humanity could observe and hold. Patrick could feel himself grinning. He had just won his first Gym battle. For a moment, he thought about calling Brendan and telling him. After all, this was a moment that they had dreamed of sharing together. Then his heart clenched. They were also supposed to be sharing a journey, and look at how that turned out.  
"You did it!" Andy said happily.  
"The luck o' the Irish was with you," Joe said as sagely as he could while talking in an Irish accent.  
"What did I tell you?" Pete smiled. "I knew you could do it."  
They started to leave the Gym, but an attendant stopped them. She held out four pale blue tickets. "As a reward for defeating Gym Leader Sykes," she said. "Your group gets one free night at the Aqualia City Amusement Park. All dining areas are included in your pass, but souvenirs and additional extras are not included."  
The look of delight on Andy's face could have melted Scrooge's heart. "Really?"  
The woman smiled. "Yes, really."  
"Thank you," Patrick said, but the woman cut him off.  
"It is our pleasure as Gym Officials to reward young Trainers for showing outstanding battle skill," the attendant said warmly. "Good luck with the rest of your journey."  
...  
The group waved as they left. None of the actual attendants noticed as the woman slipped into a private room. Her mind was racing. This had to be him. None of the other Trainers had even come close to matching his potential. None. The cute one with the giant forehead and Chimchar had been the closest, but there were still miles between the two. This one, the dorky one with the glasses and fedora, was the person her boss had been looking for. She pulled out the small cell phone that she had been instructed to use when she found him. It rang once before someone answered. "What do you have to report?"  
"I found the one our boss has been looking for," she said coolly.  
"I'll put you through. One moment please." A moment later, her boss spoke.  
"You found him?"  
"I believe he's the one."  
"Battle stats?"  
"His Pokemon took out Sykes's and barely broke a sweat."  
A laugh of disbelief. "I can't believe it. Now how do we get him?"  
"He seemed to form a bond with the two Gem City Leaders. I think if we get them, he'll run right to us."  
A laugh of malice. "Brilliant. Once we have him, we can break her. After all, the best way to get to a mother is by getting to her child, isn't it?"  
...  
"Come on guys!" Andy squealed. He was practically dragging the group back to the amusement park by their ears.  
"Andy, we're not going to get there any faster with you dragging us!" Pete protested. Andy reluctantly stopped, but he kept bouncing and squeaking quietly. They made it to the gates, just barely beating the lunch rush of people surging into the streets.  
"Tickets?" A big buff guy asked, looking down at the group in their shortness. Patrick gulped a little before handing the guy their tickets. The guy smiled and handed them four light blue bands. "Enjoy your stay at the Aqualia City Amusement Park, guys."  
"Thank you," Patrick said before Andy dragged him and the others into the amusement park. His jaw dropped. "Jesus Christ."  
The Aqualia City Amusement Park was giant and majestic. Huge roller coasters crested the sky, and Ferris wheels stood out from the skyline like pimples on puberty-struck teens. The smell of all sorts of different fair foods barraged his senses, and his stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten since the breakfast in Cyrano Town hours earlier. And he had won his first Gym battle. Andy was grinning like a maniac, which may or may not have been a good thing.  
"Come on," he said. "There's a taco place right over here. It's really good." He led the way to a tiny restaurant that seemed to be carved into the wall. A bright red sign red 'Dragon Tacos: Food So Spicy You'll Breathe Fire'.  
"Are they for real?" Pete asked nervously, pointing at the sign. "Do you actually breathe fire?"  
"No," Andy held the door for them. "But I have seen some pretty epic fire tricks."  
The inside of Dragon Tacos looked like something straight out of a medieval knight's tale. The walls were made out of dark stones, and each table had a red tablecloth with a scarlet synthetic fire in a tall, glass cylinder. At the far end of the room was a giant stone fireplace carved to look like a dragon's mouth, roaring. When one of the workers threw more wood into the fireplace, the flames jumped so high that it looked like the dragon was actually breathing fire. It was one of the coolest things that Patrick had ever seen.  
"How did you find this place?" Joe asked admiringly.  
"I got lost and stayed here until my family found me," Andy smiled, lost in memories. "The owner was nice and gave me vegan tacos while I was waiting."  
A man came out from behind the bar, and his eyes widened. "Andy? Is that you?"  
Andy grinned. "Jack?"  
"Good God, it's been so long!" the man - Jack - embraced Andy. Joe imperceptibly stiffened. "How are you doing, man?"  
"Actually, really well," Andy smiled and looked at Joe. "Jack, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Joe and my friends Pete and Patrick. Guys, this is Jack, the owner of Dragon Tacos."  
Jack smiled and shook all of their hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." Jack was wearing a red shirt with a black dragon on it. His dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and he had the beginnings of a beard. Overall, he was nice-looking, but a bit too flashy for Andy, in Patrick's opinion.  
"Nice to meet you too," Patrick said. His stomach grumbled, indicating it was happy to meet a guy with tacos as well. Jack smiled.  
"I have some tacos ready to go," he said. "You still a vegan, Andy?" Andy laughed, which was answer enough.  
Jack's tacos were really good. Like, really good. There were enough spices to clear the sinuses of an army, and Patrick felt that if his throat had been capable of spewing flames, it would have. Pete and Joe clearly felt the same way; between the three of them, they downed at least ten glasses of water. Andy and Jack seemed to be the only two who could handle the near fatal amount of spices.  
"So where are you going to go first?" Jack asked, finishing his taco. "The Demon's Stomach? Carnival games?"  
"Actually, I was going to take Joe to the Tunnel," Andy glanced shyly at Joe. "And then carnival games."  
"Ah," Jack nodded wisely. "Well, have fun. Don't be a stranger."  
"I won't," Andy promised.  
"You all were fantastic," Jack grinned. "Andy, why don't you go scout the traffic and see how long it'll be for the rides." Andy smiled and darted off to go see.  
Jack turned to the other three guys. "I just want you guys to know that you don't know how lucky you are to have that kid with you. I've known him since he was yay tall -" he pointed to his shin. "- and I've watched him grow up. He is one of the nicest and most unique people I know. You all are damn lucky to have him."  
Everyone stood there in shock for a moment. "Oh, and Joe?" Jack paused to compose himself. "Congrats on winning Andy's heart." He walked into the back room without another word.  
"Well then," Pete said. "Let's go find Andy." They only had to walk about six feet outside of Dragon Tacos to find Andy. He was sitting on a park bench, waiting expectantly.  
"There's no wait for the Tunnel," he said happily. "So Joe and I can go on that while you two ride something else."  
"Can't we all go on it?" Patrick asked. He was nervous that if left alone with Pete too long, then all of his deepest, darkest feelings would come spilling out.  
"We could," Andy said. "But I'm only dating Joe. So it would be weird if I went with all of you."  
"Oh."  
"There are some roller coasters right by it," Andy seemed to sense Patrick's discomfort. "You and Pete could ride one of those."  
Pete smirked, almost evilly. "That sounds like a good idea."  
"I'm a little nervous because of your smirk," Patrick couldn't help but smile a little. "But I'm in."  
"Yes!" Pete punched the air in delight. "This is going to be awesome!"  
Andy led them to an area filled with giant roller coasters. Patrick's stomach started rolling just looking at them. Pete looked really hyper, and Patrick wondered if he had sneaked a Monster into his system. They stopped in front of a really scary looking roller coaster named The Demon's Stomach. It looked like the passengers went through a big tunnel in a dark dome, and then they got spit out the back, with at least five trash cans for them when they got back. Patrick guessed that he would be spending a chunk of time after the ride in one of those conveniently placed trash cans.  
"The Demon's Stomach is a really intense ride," Andy said, looking at the ride. "Easily one of the scariest in the park."  
Patrick gulped. "Shouldn't we start on something, you know, easier? I feel like this is the equivalent of going straight to Blood City from Metal Town."  
"Except that with Blood City, you might actually die," Pete pointed out. "Starting on a scary roller coaster means that you conquer the biggest, baddest boy in the park first so that nothing is as scary as it afterward."  
"How did you talk me into this again?" Patrick asked as he and Pete got into line.  
"My devilish good looks," Pete grinned and batted his eyelashes at Patrick, whose stomach dropped as though he were already on the roller coaster. "Want to go on the front?"  
"Why the front?"  
"So if someone loses their stomach, it doesn't land on us," Pete said matter-of-factly.  
"If you've never been outside of Metal Town," Patrick asked. "How do you know so much about roller coasters?"  
"Easy," Pete said. "When Ryan and I were in, like, sixth grade, we decided that we were going to build a roller coaster so amazing that Aqualia City would pay us millions of dollars just for the plans."  
"Wow."  
"I know right?" Pete shook his head. "So we Googled a crap ton of information about roller coasters and tried to design one. It didn't work."  
The man at the front checked their wrist bands and waved them through. Patrick followed Pete to the front. Each of the passenger cars could seat two people, which made Patrick feel relieved. He didn't know how he would have handled riding this giant metal death machine without sitting next to Pete. As he sat down, he noticed that Pete's hands were shaking like a vibrating armchair.  
"What's wrong?" he asked. Pete was turning slightly green. He gulped.  
"I'm beginning to second guess my decision to ride this thing," he said. "I think there were drugs or something in those tacos, because I have no idea what the fuck I was thinking when I wanted to ride this -"  
"Hey, calm down," Patrick tried to glare at Pete, but he couldn't. "You're going to be fine. If you fall out of the side of this car, I will do my best to save you. No promises though."  
Pete laughed, and some of the asparagus color left his face. "Same goes to you."  
An attendant approached their car. "Excuse me sir?" she said, politely addressing Patrick. "You might want to take off your fedora so that it doesn't blow off during the ride. Same with your glasses."  
"Um...where should I put them?" Patrick asked, looking around for a spot.  
"We have a box up here to hold them until the end of the ride," the woman - she didn't look much older than Patrick - smiled brightly. "Poke Balls too. Wouldn't want you to lose your Pokemon." Neither did Patrick or Pete, so they put their items in the box. "Thank you and enjoy the ride." She picked up a microphone and addressed all of the passengers. "Passengers, please keep all hands and feet inside the vehicle. Trash cans will be provided at the end of the ride for those who need them. Pictures are 2 dollars a piece and can be purchased at the end of the ride. Have fun on your journey through the Demon's Stomach!" She threw a switch and the safety harness/seat belts lowered, locking into place. Patrick gulped as the ride slowly started. His insides had seeped out of his spine, leaving a hollow feeling. He felt something grip his hand and he jumped.   
"Relax, Stump Boy, it's just my hand," Pete whispered, trying to sound cool but his nervousness made his voice crack. Patrick looked down. It was Pete's hand, gripping his own with a death grip. The hollowness in his stomach rapidly filled with emo butterflies. "I need to hold onto something or I'm going to lose it."  
"It's okay," Patrick whispered back. "My hand is an excellent thing to hold onto." The ride was climbing steeper and the suspense was killing Patrick. The ride inched its way to the top of a hill, and Patrick squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn't have to look at the plummet. He was positive he would vomit if he did.  
And then the ride dropped.  
They were both screaming at the top of their lungs, because it felt like their organs had been left at the top of the hill and were now scrambling to catch up with their bodies on the drop. The ride whizzed through more track, twisting and turning quickly. Patrick slowly opened his eyes. Dark walls surrounded him, and little bursts of fire lit up the walls. Then the ride twisted, and the world flipped upside down. Patrick quickly glanced at Pete, who was looking exhilarated. It was a good look for him.  
"THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" Pete yelled. Then the ride slammed to a stop, and the two were jerked forward. Thank God for safety harnesses. "This isn't the end of the ride..." Pete was cut off as the car flipped over unexpectedly and almost evicted their lunch from their stomachs. The ride zoomed on until it spat them outside, into the blinding sunlight.  
"Thanks for riding The Demon's Stomach!" the attendant's perky voice cut through the buzz in Patrick's ears. "Your items are located by the trash cans. Have a nice day!"  
Patrick staggered out of the car. That was awesome. And he wasn't puking - even better. Pete, however, wasn't so lucky. He bolted over to a trash can and started emptying his guts into it. Patrick awkwardly patted his back. "Just get it out, man." After a minute, Pete surfaced for air.  
"Jesus, God," he gasped. "That was fun."  
"Here are your items!" the attendant handed them their stuff. Patrick put on his glasses, and the world refocused. "Would you like a picture?"  
"Two," Pete said. He handed her four dollars, and the attendant quickly printed their pictures. The camera had caught them both screaming, and Patrick personally thought he looked like a psycho. Pete looked great. God, he looks beautiful even when he's screaming in delighted terror. "Thanks, miss. Let's go find Andy and Joe."  
"They said they were at a tunnel," Patrick looked around as he pulled on his fedora. "Must be -"  
"The Tunnel of Love," Pete said, pointing. "The exit's right there, so they should be out in a second." The two stood there waiting until Andy and Joe's boat pulled out. Patrick turned scarlet, because they were making out so passionately he wasn't sure it was even PG-13. Pete turned a little red, but he just turned around. "Giving them some privacy," he muttered to Patrick.  
"Good idea."   
A minute or two later, Andy and Joe realized that they had company. "Oh, hi guys," Andy said, sounding out of breath. "Ready for carnival games?"  
"You know it," Pete grinned. He proceeded to relate the story of their journey on The Demon's Stomach, but he left out the part about holding Patrick's hand. Is he embarrassed? Patrick wondered. Or does he just want that to be a special thing? The idea that he and Pete had a special thing added about twenty gazillion more butterflies to his stomach.  
The carnival games were pretty cool. They managed to win a stuffed animal each, and were just going over to one of the shooting games when they heard Gerard.  
"Goddammit Frank, Mikey Way wants the unicorn!"  
A voice that Patrick assumed was Frank said, "But unicorns don't exist."  
"I know!" Gerard's voice got quieter. "I know that, but Mikey is still innocent. We must indulge this fantasy so that he doesn't lose that innocence. Because Mikey Way can never be more emo than I am, and this would push him over that edge. Just play the damn game and win him the fucking unicorn."  
The group stood behind the wall and watched, not wanting to intervene. Mikey was staring excitedly (Patrick could have sworn that he was drooling) at the biggest stuffed unicorn Patrick had ever seen.  
"Gerard, it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" he squealed. "Can we get it? Please? Pretty please?"  
Frank sighed. "Fine."  
"YAY!!" Mikey seemed to go into overdrive. He was really cute when he did that. "THANK YOU FRANK!!"  
Frank smiled. "No problem Mikey." Then he couldn't win the unicorn, because he had terrible aim and kept missing. "Goddamn it Mikey, I am not getting this unicorn!"  
Mikey looked like he was about to cry. Then a hooded stranger walked up, shoved some money in the attendant's hand, and aimed at the thing he had to shoot at, and knocked it down in one shot. The attendant's jaw dropped. "The unicorn, please," the stranger said. "But give it to him." He pointed at Mikey, whose face lit up. The attendant handed Mikey the unicorn. Mikey actually did start crying at that point, and he hugged the stranger. The stranger shot the stunned Gerard and Frank a peace sign and walked away. Andy had a satisfied smirk on his face as he watched this exchange.  
"Come on guys," Gerard said, looking at some security guys approaching. "I think that the security realized that it was us that vandalized that sign."  
"You need to stop with your little art projects," Frank chided as they walked away.  
"But this one was pretty genius," Mikey piped up excitedly. "Changing the Tunnel of Love to the Carpal Tunnel of Love. I liked it." They faded out of sight.  
"Okay, that was exciting," Pete said. "And now we know that Mikey Way likes unicorns."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting intense!!! Thanks for all the hits and kudos!! Keep 'em coming!!


	9. Matching Pokemon, Crying, and the Milk Fic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the most meta chapter so far and it was ridiculously fun to write, accept the fun that I wrote in the peak of my emo phase freshman and sophomore year!!

They stayed in Aqualia City for a few more days to rest and recharge their Pokemon (along with their sanity). Pete's mom let them stay at her house, and she took them to different eating places around Aqualia City. Patrick liked the city. It was calm and relaxing while bustling and busy at the same time. Just what you would expect from the Water-type city.  
"So where are we going next?" he asked as they let the Pokemon play in Pete's mom's backyard.  
"I don't remember the name of the city," Joe paused, trying to remember. "But Lzzy runs it. I know that."  
"She's harder to beat than Ed Sheeran," Andy said. "But she's still pretty easy for a beginning Trainer.”  
"How do you know all this stuff about the Gym Leaders if you haven't actually fought them?" Pete asked, tossing a stick for Woobat.  
"Fyodoren City makes it its business to know all of the other Gym Leaders' strengths and weaknesses," Andy said grimly. "Johnny and Charlie are insane about this sort of thing."  
"We should probably start getting ready to go," Pete said, patting his shoulder for Woobat to sit on. "We could probably make it to the next City if we hurry."  
They went back inside, to find Pete's mom making cookies. They smelled a little burnt, but still good.  
"Getting ready to leave?" she asked, nudging the hot cookies with a fork onto a plate. "I made you guys some cookies. And they're vegan," she added, predicting Andy's question before it came. "I found a recipe online."  
"Thank you," Andy said gratefully.  
"It was nothing," Pete's mom smiled modestly. "I really enjoyed spending these past few days with you four. I'm sure that you guys will do great things together."  
"Thanks Mom," Pete gave her a sideways hug. "I'm really glad that I decided to stop being mad."  
"Me too," Pete's mom hugged him back. "Well, if you're going to try and make it before dark, you should go now."  
"Thank you for letting us stay here," Andy said, and the others echoed him.  
"You're very welcome," Pete's mom smiled. "It's been a nice change having someone other than Linoone in the house. Feel free to stop by anytime." She waved one last time as the group walked out of the house. There were tears glittering in her eyes.  
The group managed to get out of the city before the streets clogged up with hungry people wanting lunch. As they left Aqualia City behind, Patrick breathed in the natural air. He hadn't realized how accustomed to his lungs had gotten to the junked up Aqualia City air. Woobat chirped in delight and did a 360 around Pete's head. Sylveon wrapped one of its ribbons around Patrick's arm, which tickled a little but Patrick got used to it. Patrick smiled and thought about how this was a great start.  
Such a shame that it didn't last.  
After maybe 20 minutes, they heard a voice say, "Goddamn it, did we lose Spencer and Jon again?" It sounded like Ryan.  
"They're probably making out in a tree again," said someone else, and it made Patrick's blood turn to ice. Brendon. "Should we send out Vivillon to look for them?"  
"No," Ryan sounded frustrated. "If we just turn around and retrace our steps, we'll probably find them making out on the side of the road." Footsteps started coming closer...closer...  
Frantically, Patrick looked around for a way to get out before Brendon saw him, but there was no way out. He sighed and looked at Pete. "Ready for Round 2?"  
Pete cracked his knuckles. "The real question is whether or not Ryan is ready for Round 2."  
A moment later, Brendon and Ryan crashed through the shrubbery but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Pete and Patrick. Ryan locked his jaw and folded his arms. "Of course. We go looking for Jon and Spencer and find you," he spat, looking at Pete. Pete rolled his eyes.  
"It wasn't like we tried to run into you, Senor Ross," he said. "We're bound to run into each other at some point, given that we're, you know, going the same fucking way."   
Ryan looked ready to lash back, but then two small Pokemon wandered out of the plants. They saw Brendon and Ryan and squealed happily, running over to them. The angry look melted off of Ryan's face like Olaf from Frozen. He leaned down to pick one up, and Brendon picked up the other one. That's when Patrick realized what was happening.  
His mind froze. His blood boiled. He could hear his heart pounding like a gong in his ears. No. No. Not even Brendon in Super Ultra Dick Mode would do this...  
But he did.  
Brendon was completely oblivious to the mental and emotional havoc that he had managed to wreak in Patrick's mind, which only made Patrick angrier. He was so angry, he began to tremble with rage. How dare Brendon do this? This was like taking the Statue of Liberty's torch and smashing it.  
"So, Brendon," he heard himself say. Dang, he sounded pissed. "When did you decide that our friendship belonged in the trash?"  
Brendon blinked. "I'm confused."  
"Of course, you wouldn't want to admit that you took our thing and did it with Ryan Ross," Patrick spat angrily. He could feel angry tears forming in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "Did our friendship mean jack shit to you?"  
Brendon turned white and he looked horrified. "Oh fuck. Oh goddamned fuck. I completely forgot."  
"How convenient," Patrick said scathingly. "You know what? Forget this and fuck you Brendon."  
"Ooh, shots fired," Joe muttered.  
"Thanks for the memories, Brendon, even though they weren't so great," Patrick glared at Brendon, and Sylveon hissed at the Minun in Brendon's arms. He stormed off, but he heard Ryan mutter, "Good thing he doesn't know about our Vivillon."  
Patrick whirled around. "Matching Vivillon?! Can you just not stop yourself?"  
Brendon looked at his feet and didn't respond. Patrick walked away. Why did intense confrontations with Brendon usually end with him walking away? The tears in his eyes refused to be held back any longer, and when he was a good distance away, he jumped up into the nearest tree that could support the weight of an almost fully grown teenager like himself and cried. Sylveon curled up next to him and snuggled closer, occasionally using one of its ribbons to wipe away Patrick's tears.  
...  
What Patrick didn't know was that Brendon's nose had paid dearly for Brendon's actions. After Patrick had left, Pete had turned to Brendon with a look that could have made Medusa turn away in shame.  
"I don't have to be nice anymore," he said, more to himself than anyone else. Then his fist flew into Brendon's face with the speed and accuracy of a bullet. Then Brendon was on the ground and Pete was pounding his face like it was a punching bag and the others were trying to pull them apart and there was lots of yelling. Finally Andy dragged a flailing Pete off of Brendon, who was now bleeding from multiple areas of his face.  
"Don't you ever," Pete spat the word and some blood on the ground. "mess with Patrick like that again. Got it, you punk with an obnoxiously large forehead?"  
"You like him, don't you?" Ryan asked quietly. It was the closest to a normal conversation that he'd had with Pete since this whole affair began. Pete looked down at the ground and nodded.  
"Yeah, I think I do," he said softly. Then he looked up at Ryan with hate in his eyes. "That's why I'm keeping him as far away from you and Bighead Urie over here. It feels like a part of me dies every time I see him in pain, and I plan on stopping that. So here's the first step: stay the fuck away from me and Patrick, or next time your family jewels will be ripped off and shoved down your throat with horseradish and ghost peppers. Got it, Ross?"  
Ryan nodded.  
"Good. Now I have to go find Patrick." Pete stormed off, 'accidentally' bumping into Ryan on the way out. Joe and Andy looked at each other. This was an interesting development.  
"Well, now we know how Pete feels," Andy said at last, following Pete. "Should we do something?"  
"No," Joe shook his head. "We have no idea what we're doing and we could drive them apart."  
"Can we like, nudge them?" Andy asked. "Because I can see it in Patrick's face: he's already given up. He's just going to let Mikey win."  
"See, that's the thing," Joe said. "Mikey didn't care. The only time that Mikey showed any sign of caring whatsoever was talking to Conservative Father, and no one knows why he did that."  
"This is weird," Andy said decisively. "This calls for -"  
"Andy, I swear to God, if you say the thinking cap, I will poke you so hard -" Joe started to say, but Andy shushed him. He pointed to one of the trees. There was a pink ribbon dangling from it. Quietly, Andy and Joe walked over. You could hear someone sniffling. It was Patrick. Joe went to talk to him first.  
"Hey, Saint Patrick," he smiled softly. "You're in my tree."  
"Jesus, do you own every tree I have a breakdown in?" Patrick mumbled.  
"Actually, I'm Joe, not Jesus," Joe said. "But I've been told the resemblance is striking."  
"Screw you Joe."  
"That's my job," Andy smiled. Reluctantly, Patrick did too. "What was up with you and Brendon earlier?"  
Patrick took a deep, shuddering breath. "When Brendon and I were younger, we wanted to be the most amazing, united Trainers ever. It sounds stupid, but we wanted to have matching Minun and Plusle."  
Andy's eyes widened. "Oh crap."  
"Yeah," Patrick nodded. "So him having the matching Pokemon is really his way of telling me that our friendship meant absolutely nothing to him."  
Right after he said that, Pete found them. The look of relief on his face was so obvious that even Vetruvius could have seen it, and he was a blind Lego.  
"Thank God I found you guys," Pete said. Luckily, he didn't notice how Patrick's face lit up at the sight of him. "I was about to send Woobat to look for you guys from above."  
Patrick envisioned Woobat, a solo search and rescue team, drifting above the trees. "That could have ended badly."  
"Not any worse than how Brendon's nose ended up," Joe snorted. Pete turned bright red.  
"Shut up," he said.  
"What?" Patrick asked. What had Pete done to Brendon's nose?  
"No, tell him," Joe said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He'll find out sooner or later."  
"Fine, you asshole of a Jesus doppelganger," Pete said, then mumbled something that Patrick couldn't hear.  
"Louder," Joe smirked. He was enjoying this way too much. Pete glared at him.  
"I might have broken Brendon Urie's nose," he said. Patrick's eyes exploded out of his head.  
"You punched him?!"  
"Uh, yeah," Pete said it like it was obvious. "You don't make my favorite dork with a fedora upset and not pay with your nose."  
"Brendon's lucky that Pete didn't rip off some valuable parts and shove them down his throat," Joe commented. "He was ten times angrier than Andy when you first met him."  
Patrick's mind was spinning. Pete had punched Brendon in the face. Pete had also called him his favorite dork with a fedora. Did he hear that right? Had Pete just referred to him as his favorite dork with a fedora? If he hadn't been sitting in a tree, right in front of Pete, he probably would have started spinning in delight. He should tell Brendon about this...  
Wait, why was he thinking about Brendon? Especially after this? White hot rage began to swell up inside of him. Brendon had proven time and time again that he didn't care. Their old friendship wasn't as important as his shiny new one with Ryan. After all they had matching Vivillon and coordinating electric types.  
Well, two could play at this game, Brendon. You should have known better than to piss off someone who knows so much about you. Patrick turned to Pete, hoping there was an angry gleam in his eyes.  
"Let's teach them a lesson, in the worst kind of way," he said, and his voice sounded angry calm. "I am so done with them screwing with us."  
"I don't know where this angry Patrick came from," Pete smiled. "But I like it. What did you have in mind?"  
...  
Patrick sat down at the Internet cafe and took a deep breath. He and Pete had spent the last 10 hours writing something that would humiliate Brendon and Ryan so badly that they would come crawling back (preferably crying) and beg (ideally on their knees) to Patrick and Pete. Patrick was impressed at how well it had turned out. They managed to stuff it with a crap ton of dark metaphors (Pete's specialty) and loads of sick, twisted stuff (which Patrick had a surprising knack for). Now all that was left was to type and publish it.  
"Whatcha writing?" came a sassy voice. Patrick jumped. It was Gerard.  
"Why are you always around?" he asked.  
"I asked you first," Gerard said. "But since I'm a sassy diva and I do what I want, I'll answer your question."  
"I don't see how that makes sense," Patrick said. "But okay."  
"This is my cafe," Gerard beamed and held out his hands on both sides of him.  
"No it's not," said one of the staff. "The Wayward Cafe isn't yours."  
"It says way in it," Gerard said as though it were obvious. "It has to be mine."  
The staff member shook her head and continued working.  
"So Pete and I are trying to humiliate Brendon and Ryan, so we wrote this thing," Patrick said. He looked down at the notebook.  
"I'm going to read it," Gerard said. It wasn't a question; he just grabbed it and started to read. At parts he nodded, smiled occasionally, and made little comments that Patrick couldn't hear. After a couple of minutes, he tossed down the notebook. "It's good."  
"Thank you."  
"But it's not good enough."  
"Oh."  
"You want to destroy them," Gerard said. "This might hack off an arm, but they'll survive. If you want to break them, you've got to take this nice little PG-13 story and turn it into an X-rated joyride."  
Patrick blinked. "I see."  
"Luckily," Gerard sighed, crossing his legs as he sat on a table. "You have an excellent resource on hand to guide you on your quest to write amateur porn." Patrick tried to protest, but Gerard cut him off. "Child, this is amateur porn. Don't fight it." He grabbed a napkin and began scribbling furiously on it. He handed it to Patrick, whose face heated up like it was in a sauna.  
"Okay then."  
"Get your adorable emo friend in here and I'll help you fix it," Gerard said, fixing his hair. Pete was currently teaching (or at least attempting to teach) Woobat how to snort in disgust. Ever since the battle with Ryan in Cyrano Town, Pete was obsessed with teaching Woobat how to do that properly.  
"You do it like this, Woobat," Pete was saying. "Oh, hey Patrick. Say something that will make me snort."  
"Um..." Patrick tried to think. "Joe's getting a haircut."  
Pete snorted and then started to laugh. "Oh, Patrick. Joseph Trohman is never going to get a haircut."  
"You didn't say that it had to be true," Patrick said. "Also, Gerard is going to help us rewrite the thing."  
"Why does it need to be redone?" Pete stood up, dusting off his pants.  
"He said it wasn't dirty enough," Patrick handed Pete the napkin, and he studied it.  
"Dang," he said. "I didn't know that Ryan Ross was capable of such things."  
"Well, Gerard said he would help us," Patrick replied. "He also is claiming that he owns the cafe, so be prepared."  
Gerard was waiting for them. "Okay," he said, diving right into business. "What were you calling this thing?"  
"Uh, we haven't decided," Pete said, looking at Patrick.   
"Excellent," Gerard declared. "For revenge stories like this, you need to take something totally random and make it symbolic."  
"How random is random?" Patrick asked.  
"Like..." Gerard's eyes traveled the room. They rested on a bottle of milk next to a baby. "Milk. Literally, whatever you want."  
"So, this is...the MilkFic?"  
"Perfect," Gerard nodded. An hour later, the MilkFic was all typed up and ready to go. There were moments when Patrick's face got so red and his typing got so slow that Pete or Gerard would shove him out of the way and continue typing. Patrick felt a twinge of guilt; should he really be doing this to the guy who had been the only one at his birthday party, the guy who had been there for him every Father's Day (he would dress up in a suit and tie with a fake mustache that always seemed to look like Hitler's no matter how hard they tried and he would pretend he was "Patrick's dad" for a day), the guy who could probably still finish his sentences if he tried. But Brendon broke our friendship, he reminded himself. He left me, then took a promise that he made and did it with Ryan Ross. This is payback.  
"So," Gerard clapped his hands. "I have to give you two the Internet safety lecture. Here it goes -" He took a large, dramatic breath. " - don't use your real names, don't meet anyone, and if any hentai pops up, it's not Asian chickens, say no."  
Patrick was confused. "Then what -"  
"Don't ask," Pete and Gerard said at the same time.  
"Okay, so fake names," Patrick said, trying to get an answer to at least one of his questions.  
"Oh, you can do group fake names," Gerard said brightly. "That's why we're Team MCR: it stands for My Chemical Romance, which is code for Mikey Claudia Ray."  
"What about Frank?" Pete asked.  
"Well, with Frank, I wanted to call it My Fucking Chemical Romance so Frank would be included, but Team MFCR doesn't roll off the tongue as easily and Frank didn't want to be fucking. So he is a member of the team in our hearts." At that last bit, he held a fist to his heart and stared at something in the distance.  
"Claudia?" Patrick asked desperately.  
"Oh, that's my other name," Gerard said, as though he were saying the weather was nice. "I use it when I'm trying to be sneaky."  
"Oh." Finally. One goddamn question answered.  
"Where's Joe and Andy?" Pete asked, turning to look at Patrick. Could his eyes be any more hypnotic?   
"Umm..." Patrick tried to think with those intense eyes staring at him. Which wasn't easy, by the way. "I think they took a walk."  
Gerard snorted. "Uh huh. Took a walk. Very likely."  
"I'll go look for them," Patrick said. Anything to clear his mind.  
"Okay," Pete turned back to the computer. "I'll mess around on the Internet until you get back."  
Patrick brought out Sylveon to walk with him, and together they walked into the forest. At first, it was okay just to walk and look for signs of Joe and Andy (i.e. bits of vegan muffin or discarded clothing, whichever the case may be). But after a bit, he started feeling like his thoughts were like a lead ball sitting on his chest. H needed to talk to someone, but this was some deep stuff, too deep to tell Joe and Andy. And certainly not Pete. That would be like the lamb handing the butcher a knife. Suddenly Sylveon noticed a butterfly - a regular one, not an emo one - and started to play with it. A lightbulb went off in Patrick's head. Of course. He could talk to Sylveon.  
"Hey Sylveon," he said. Sylveon turned and faced him with its bright blue eyes. "Can we talk?" Sylveon sat down at the base of a nearby tree and looked at him expectantly. Patrick sat down next to it.  
"Here's the thing," Patrick started. "I think that I like Pete. Like, really like him." Sylveon perked up and began waving its ribbons excitedly.  
"Yeah," Patrick smiled. Then his smile faded. "But Pete also...kind of likes Mikey Way." Sylveon's ribbons fell to the ground in a disappointed way.  
"And I've tried...God, I've tried so hard to let him go," Patrick looked at the ground. "He's on a completely different level than me. It's like a tiny little kitten trying to get the attention of a tiger when the sexy tigress is right there batting her eyelashes at him."  
Sylveon looked confused.  
"Too many cat metaphors," Patrick muttered. "What I'm trying to say is that I am not nearly significant enough to get on a guy like Pete's radar like that."  
Sylveon glared at him.  
"Don't look at me like that," Patrick said. "You know it's true."  
Sylveon continued to glare at him.  
"I mean, it's easy to say that I don't like him," Patrick ran a hand through his hair. "But then I see him smiling, or laughing, or...for God's sake, just being himself and I'm falling for him all over again."  
Sylveon's glare softened, and it cuddled closer to Patrick. He could feel more tears beginning to form in his eyes.  
"And to be honest," the tears started flowing. "I'm scared. I'm really scared, Sylveon."  
Sylveon looked at him, like why?  
"Why?" Patrick took a deep breath. "I'm scared to lose him. I'm scared that if I put myself out there, and he doesn't feel the same way, then he'll leave the group and I'll never see him again. And I think that would destroy me."  
Sylveon looked like it was going to cry. If Pokemon could cry.  
"Because everyone leaves," Patrick whispered. "My parents. Brendon. I can't, I just can't lose Pete too." He wiped the tears away. "We should go look for Andy and Joe. Thanks for listening." Sylveon beamed up at him. Patrick had to admit, he felt lighter after telling Sylveon the crazy wacked up crap that was his head.  
Sylveon spotted some crumbs from a vegan muffin along the side of the road (it tasted them to check), which was a sure sign that Andy had been there. Sylveon led Patrick through the trees, following a trail that only it seemed to be able to see. Then again, Patrick reasoned, Sylveon was a fairy type. There was probably all sorts of magical juju going on that he didn't know about. After a couple of minutes, he found Andy and Joe playing with some small Pokemon.  
"Hi Patrick," Andy smiled. "We caught some Pokemon!" He was holding a Teddiursa, which beamed up at Patrick. It was a very Andy expression, Patrick realized. At Andy's feet was a Flaaffy, shaking the blue ball on its tail like an overenthusiastic Christmas caroler. Sylveon began swiping at the ball with its ribbons, which was so cute that Patrick could barely stand it. Meanwhile, Joe was throwing sticks for a Poochyena and a Riolu. They recovered the sticks so quickly that Joe barely had time to relax before one of them came back. But Joe was grinning, so Patrick knew that he didn't care.  
"We need to come up with a fake group name for the thing," Patrick said. "And Pete will come up with something sick, twisted, and adorably emo if we don't agree on one."  
"Well, we can't have that," Joe stood up and dusted off his pants, calling Riolu and Poochyena into their Poke Balls. "What would that do for our reputations?"  
"We have reputations?" Patrick asked.  
"Maybe, I haven't googled myself recently," Joe said matter of factly as they started walking back.  
"You google yourself?"  
"Yeah," Joe grinned. "There happens to be a banker in Norway named Joe Trohman who likes to go ice fishing with his wife and son."  
Andy blinked. "That is not you."  
"You think?"  
"Well, don't google me," Andy said, turning a little pink.  
"Why?" Patrick asked.  
"Ummm..."  
"Is it the thing that's not Asian chickens?"  
"God, no, just...no, Jesus Christ, no."  
"I'm intrigued," Joe said.  
Andy face-palmed. "Just don't look me up, okay?"  
"Okay," Patrick said. Joe said nothing.  
They made it back to the cafe, and Gerard hurried out to greet them. He looked concerned.  
"Okay, what I'm about to tell you is not my fault," he said.   
Patrick's stomach clenched and his heart started to run laps. "What happened?"  
"Well, I was making sure that your friend didn't download any, you know, questionable things," Gerard looked really uncomfortable. "And then I turned around for, like 5 seconds, and..."  
"And what?" Patrick was beginning to go into Panic Mode. "Goddamn it, what happened?"  
Gerard fidgeted uncomfortably. Then he exhaled. "Emojis. In the 5 seconds that I wasn't paying attention to him, he found emojis."  
Joe seemed to understand what this meant, because he buried his face in his hands and looked pained. "Dear God, Gerard."  
"It's not my fault!" Gerard protested. "That boy has a talent for finding things."  
"I'm confused," Patrick said.  
"Emojis are the tiny little faces and such that you can put in texts and emails and stuff," Gerard ran a hand through his hair. "And they're addicting."  
"So, what does this mean?" Patrick asked as his heart stopped racing.  
"It means that Mr. Wentz in there is losing his ever loving mind as he navigates the intricacies of emojis," Gerard said sarcastically. "He's not going to die, little fireball. He's just going to get a teensy bit more annoying."  
Patrick took a deep breath. It's okay. Pete wasn't dying or in mortal peril. Everything was fine. Sylveon rubbed against his leg to calm him down. Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw Andy giving him a concerned look.  
"Let's go figure this name thing out," he said, trying to act like he hadn't just lost his mind. They walked into the cafe to find Pete staring at the computer screen with a starstruck expression. He almost looked like a zombie. "Pete?"  
Pete didn't respond.  
"Oh, for God's sake," Gerard said irritably. "Mikey is standing in the corner wearing nothing but a loincloth and a sexy expression."  
Pete whipped around. "What?"  
"Your friends are trying to talk to you," Gerard said. He turned to Patrick, Joe, and Andy and said, "You just have to mention Mikey in a loincloth to snap him out of it. Remember that."  
Patrick wondered what Pete would look like in a loincloth.  
"Sorry, I was distracted," Pete said apologetically. "What are we going to call ourselves?"  
"Well, I'm going to call myself The Average Joe," Joe said.  
"No, the group name, silly," Andy poked Joe's arm. "And I don't think you're average."  
Joe turned a little pink. "Well, in the group's case, maybe we should be 4 Gays With No Social Life."  
"That literally narrows it down to us," Pete said. "But I love the creativity."  
"Umm..." Andy stared off into the distance. "I got nothing."  
After a few more failed attempts (including An Emo and Co., Whipped Cream Is Not Vegan, and Screw Conformity), Patrick remembered that all 4 of them had fallen out of stuff, and he suggested the name Fall Out Boys. Then Gerard intervened and said to take off the’s’ so it would just be Fall Out Boy. "That way, everyone will think that it's just one person," he explained. "And no one, save Brendon and Ryan, will suspect that it's you."  
Pete looked at Patrick. The cursor hovered over the 'publish' button. "Do you want to do the honors?" Patrick took a deep breath. And then clicked the button.  
...  
Brendon leaned against the trunk of the tree and sighed. He was still reeling from yesterday's fight with Patrick. And his nose still hurt - damn, Pete Wentz sure did a number on his face. It's not like you didn't deserve most of that, he reminded himself. Patrick has every right to be angry with you. Chimchar skipped around, playing with Minun and Vivillon in the grass. Just looking at his Pokemon made him smile. This was his dream coming true. He was finally on his way to becoming a master Trainer.  
So why did he feel like something was missing?  
Jon ran up to him. Even before he saw the look on Jon's face, Brendon knew that something was definitely wrong. Jon and Spencer were never not making out with each other. Add that to the horrified look on Jon's face and you had a Class A Shit Storm.  
"Uh, there's a thing," he stammered. "There's a thing on the Internet, um, about you and Ryan...and it's not good..."  
"What do you mean, not good?" Brendon asked slowly. A horrible sinking feeling was filling his gut.  
"Well, whoever wrote it has awesome potential, the metaphors are right on -"  
"Jon."  
"Sorry. It's really messed up, and you have to come read it before Ryan breaks the computer."  
Brendon followed Jon back up to the main area. Each step felt like it weighed 50 pounds. What could be so bad that it could make Jon and Spencer stop making out? He had once told Ryan that even the apocalypse wouldn't stop them from making out. Clearly that wasn't true. Unless this was the apocalypse. It seemed rather quiet for that though...  
In the main area, Ryan was sitting in one corner with the communal laptop on his lap. Spencer was sitting as far away from him as possible. He hurried over to Jon and Brendon and said quietly, "He hasn't said a word. I think that he's going to explode."  
Jon narrowed his eyes, which Brendon took as a sign that he and Spencer were going to start making out again, so he decided to go make sure that Ryan didn't internally combust. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that Ryan may have been quiet, but he was definitely not calm. He looked like he had swallowed an economy size jug of lemon juice. He was sitting cross-legged and gripping his knees so hard that Brendon was quite sure that they would pop off.  
"I don't even like milk," Ryan spat out. "This, this Fall Out Boy makes me want to go and beat something up."   
"That bad?"  
Ryan looked up, and he looked like he was about to cry. "Read it."  
Brendon gently took the laptop from Ryan and scrolled back to the top. 5 minutes later, he was beginning to lose it too. God, it was just like Jon said: the metaphors were great, but Jesus Christ, someone clearly had a lot of time and anger issues. He kept scrolling - oh God no. His eyes expanded until they were bigger than moons. There was only one person in the entire world who knew that piece of information about him.  
Patrick, no.  
...  
"Jesus, this thing is getting big," Patrick scrolled through the comments, which ranged mainly from disgusted to astonished to 'let's hang out sometime'. He stopped scrolling when he saw Brendon's comment.  
"What? Is it Brendon?" Pete asked eagerly. "what did he say?"  
Patrick could only stare at Brendon's words: Come on, Pat, a real friend wouldn't have done this. Patrick blanked for a second. Brendon had the nerve to lecture him about real friendship? Sylveon seemed to sense Patrick's anger and growled at the screen. Patrick responded: well, Brendon, a real friend wouldn't have ditched his 'best friend' for a guy he met online and then subsequently smashed what was left of that friendship into tiny little pieces.  
"Oh," Pete said, looking at the screen. "Sorry, Patrick."  
Patrick liked the way his name sounded coming from Pete's mouth. "It's not your fault that Brendon's being a crappy friend."  
Pete shrugged. "That doesn't mean that I have to like it."  
Patrick looked around. "Where did Joe go?"  
"On a secret mission to google Andy," Pete whispered. "he decided to wait until Andy took the Pokemon for a walk to do it. But you can't tell Andy, 'kay?"  
Before Patrick could respond, Joe ran past them very quickly. So quickly, Patrick could almost see the trail of fire from his path. "What the..." Patrick muttered. Pete went to the window and started staring at them. Patrick did the same. What they saw was Joe confronting Andy about whatever he had discovered, and Andy was clearly trying to evade. Then, to Patrick and Pete's shock and concern, Andy started crying, but Joe just grabbed his boyfriend and gave him a hug.   
"What the hell just happened?" Pete whispered.  
"Maybe Andy's a Turkish assassin and Joe found out," Patrick's mind was racing. "And Andy's upset because he doesn't want to get turned into the government, and Joe's being all like 'I would never turn you into the government' -"  
"Dude, Andy is not a Turkish assassin. He's not even Turkish."  
...  
What actually happened was this:  
After Joe had discovered Andy's X-rated secrets, he ran outside as fast as he possibly could. He could feel Patrick giving him a weird look, but he didn't have time to care.  
Andy turned and smiled, but stopped when he saw the look on Joe's face. "What's wrong?"  
Joe fidgeted uncomfortably. How did he call out his boyfriend on something that he had been expressly told not to do?  
Andy seemed to read this on his face. "You googled me, didn't you?"  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
Andy looked away.  
"Andy?" Joe's voice was quiet. "Please."  
Andy let out a shuddering breath. With a shock, Joe realized that Andy was crying. Joe could feel his insides melting, but he tried not to let it show.  
When Andy spoke, his voice was barely audible. "I wanted you to like me."  
Joe started to speak, but Andy cut him off and his crying got louder. "I was scared that you would like, that you would like the porn star and not me. And I really wanted you to like Andy and not the porn star."  
Joe melted, and he pulled Andy into a hug. He was still whimpering "I wanted you to like me."  
"Andy John Hurley," Joe whispered. "I love you for you. That will never change. Ever."  
Naturally Andy started crying even more.  
...  
This whole time Patrick and Pete were trying to decide whether or not they should go outside and see what was going on. Pete was saying that as Andy's best friends, it was their responsibility to go make sure that he was okay. But Patrick was saying that it was clearly a private moment between Joe and Andy and they shouldn't intrude.  
Then the computer dinged, meaning that someone had privately messaged them. Wondering who it could be, Patrick opened the message.  
to: Fall Out Boy  
from: Goth Claudia  
"It's from Gerard," Patrick told Pete.  
hey little fireball and Pete  
"I want an endearing nickname," Pete pouted. He even makes pouting look sexy.  
i'm sorry but brendon and ryan got really angry about the milkfic and blackmailed me into helping them write a retaliation fic. it's way worse than the milkfic and it's already viral.  
Patrick's blood ran cold. "Oh no," he said.  
just wanted to warn you. btw here's the link. u should be prepared.  
with love, Gerard  
With a feeling of doom settling upon him, Patrick opened the link to see 3 words: The LungFic.  
10 minutes later, Patrick and Pete finished reading The LungFic. It was way worse than Gerard had described. Patrick felt like Brendon and Ryan had gutted him like a pumpkin before Halloween. How could they have done this? This LungFic was like a bedtime story for Jack the Ripper.  
"Goddamn," Pete whispered, running a hand through his hair. "Ross is pissed."  
"What happened?" Andy popped up. Patrick just moved out of the way and let him sit down. Joe moved behind him and started reading as well. Pretty soon there were noises of indignation, shock, or something else entirely coming from them.  
"What the hell are you doing with his spine?" Andy asked in revulsion.  
"This is grotesquely fascinating," Joe commented. "Booming voice was a nice touch."  
"I STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH THE SPINE!" Andy screeched, attracting some odd looks. "For God's sake, what is wrong with these people?"  
"Should we do another retaliation?" Pete looked fired up, ready to destroy Ryan. It was hotter than hell.  
"No," Patrick said. Everyone looked at him. "They know how we feel about them, we know how they feel about us, let's go eat vegan cupcakes."  
"I like that plan," Andy said brightly. And that was that.


	10. Sisters and Demons and Near-Death Experiences, Oh My!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys head to Kairan City to challenge Amy Lee, the Psychic-type Gym Leader and Joe's sister. However, what they find in Kairan City isn't at all what they were expecting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey fam, sorry it's been so long, I've had tests all over the place and prom and AP exam season has begun, but here's a new chapter!
> 
> Also I'm trying to raise money for me to go to college next year so if you want to commission me for a story or tell me how Patreon works or anything I would love that because ya girl needs cASH MONEY
> 
> Enjoy the latest installment of the Poke Boy saga!!!

About 2 months later, Patrick was hiding under a bush, peering out into the snowy white landscape.  Sylveon and his new Leafeon were looking out nervously.  His heart pounded in his ears like a drum.  Adrenaline surged through his veins.  Was he being chased?  Had he lost them?

"Gotcha!" someone yelled, tackling him.  Patrick squealed in shock as he slid out from underneath the bush.  On his back, he saw Pete sitting on top of him, grinning like a maniac.  He was wearing his black trench coat with a black scarf and fingerless gloves.  His cheeks were pink from the cold, and he was just  _ so  _ fantastic looking right now.  If it were just the two of them,  Patrick would have seriously considered making out with him.  But unfortunately, they were in the middle of a snowball fight and Joe and Andy were still on the loose.

"Sylveon!" Sylveon screeched, a fearsome war cry in its own right.  It started using its ribbons as catapults to launch clumps of snow at Pete, who fell off of Patrick with an unceremonious grunt.  Patrick kind of wished that he hadn't.  But he had to act natural.  So what did he do?  He started chucking snowballs at Pete.

"Damn you!" Pete yelled.  "Not fair!  Sylveon has, like, 5 extra appendages to throw snowballs with!"

"You should have thought of that before you tackled me!" Patrick yelled back.  Suddenly a giant pile of snow fell on top of him and Pete.   _ Holy fuck, this is SO COLD!!! _

"What the hell?!" Pete's muffled shout was barely audible through the mountain of snow.  "Are you trying to give me hypothermia?  If I die, 95% of the sex appeal dies with me!" Patrick could feel his face heating up.

"I can't believe that actually worked," Andy's voice was heard a little more clearly.

"Of course it did," Joe sounded like he was smirking.  "Did you doubt me?"

"I doubted your plan.  You're  _ terrible  _ at making plans."

"No I"m -"

"Your plan to live with me in Fyodoren City."

"That was -"

"Your plan to eat your weight in vegan muffins."

"Admittedly -"

"Your plan to kidnap me and spirit us away to a magical land."

Silence.

"We both know it's true."

Patrick suddenly remembered how cold it was, and he started digging out of the giant mound.  When he got out, he saw Andy, but not Joe.

"Where's Joe?" he asked.

"I told him the truth and he went off to pout," Andy said wearily.  "He  _ is  _ bad at making plans that would actually work."

"Well, his plan to get us to meet you seemed to work pretty well," Patrick said.  "We thought he was on drugs, that's how happy he was."

Andy turned pink.

"Jesus Christ, that was cold!" Pete gasped, crashing out of the snow mound.  "Remind me not to piss you off in the snow.  You might bury me alive."

Andy smiled.  "I wouldn't do that. I would just end you quickly." Pete continued smiling back, but he slowly inched away.

"Let's go find Joe so we can go inside," Patrick suggested.  "It's really cold."

"It's fine," Joe returned.  "I'm back."

"To the inside!" Pete and Woobat led the way, trampling through the snow like elephants.  Patrick followed close behind, but he could hear Joe and Andy whispering softly.

Ahead, the gates of Kairan City loomed like silent guardians.  Patrick had the feeling that he would be making a lot of paranormal comparisons while in the city.  There were lots of tall, pointy buildings like in Moscow.  In fact, the city covered in snow looked like something that you'd see on a Russian postcard.  The group walked through the gates and Joe instantly tensed up.   _ Oh right,  _ Patrick remembered.   _ This is his hometown.  And he has issues with his sister.  Right. _

Joe exhaled.  "Come on.  My family's place isn't very far."

Andy whipped his head around.  "Wait, what?!"

"Where else did you think we'd stay?" Joe asked, avoiding Andy's face.  "Paris?"

"Well, I didn't think that we would be staying at your  _ family's _ ," Andy self-consciously fixed his scarf.  "What if they..." he stopped.

"If they what?" Joe asked.

"What if they don't like me?" Andy asked quietly, avoiding Joe's face.

"That's what you're worried about?" Joe asked, clearly relieved.  "Andy, believe me, they'll love you."

"Really?" Andy still looked nervous.  "Because it is your family, and I don't want them to think that I'm not good enough to be your boyfriend -"

"Andy," Joe whirled around.  "You are better than good enough.  You are so far beyond good enough that it's been out of style for the last 30 years to say the words 'good enough' and 'Andy Hurley' in the same sentence.  If my family says otherwise, I'm out of there faster than you can eat a vegan muffin, okay?"

The stunned Andy could only nod.   _ He's willing to put Andy before his own family,  _ Patrick thought.   _ Wow.   _ He wondered if there would ever be a time when he would be forced to choose between someone (AKA Pete) and Maria.  He hoped he would never have to make that choice.

Joe led the way through the streets like it was the back of his hand.  He had lived here his whole life, at least until he met Andy and they left.  The city itself seemed shrouded in mist, or at least a mystical aura.  The residents had a very distant look, like they were floating off in the clouds.  It was the same expression that Joe had been wearing when Patrick had first met him.  Must be a Kairan City thing.

"Kairan is the Psychic-type city, right?" Patrick asked.

"Yeah," Joe nodded.  "Amy Lee is the Gym Leader here, and she can be pretty tough to beat."

He stopped in front of a house that wasn't so much a house as it was a mansion. It was black and towered over the bright white lawn - easily the biggest house on the street.

"This is your house?" Pete asked, staring at the mansion.

"Yeah," Joe sheepishly ran a hand through his hair.

"Dude, you're  _ rich _ !" Pete gave Joe a little shove in glee.  "Why didn't you tell us this?"

"Maybe I wanted you to like me and not my family's money?" Joe snapped, shooting Pete a look.  "I stopped trying to have friends in Kairan because I couldn't tell whether they were genuinely friends with me or the fabulous riches." He sighed and rubbed his face.  "Sorry.  Just really nervous about seeing my family."

"No, I get it," Pete said gently.  "Sorry for being insensitive.  But imagine the snowball fights we could have here!" Joe grinned.

"Um...guys?" Patrick wasn't sure how to intrude on this Pete-Joe bonding moment.  "Andy's kind of hyperventilating over here." Andy was, in fact, hyperventilating.  Joe was over by his side in an instant.

"This is actually happening," Andy's whisper was barely audible.  "I am legitimately about to meet your family."

"Just think," Joe said softly, taking hold of Andy's shoulders.  "When we go to Fyodoren City, you can spring surprise family visits on me to your heart's content." Andy smiled weakly.  Joe turned to face the massive doors and took a deep breath.  Then he let Drifloon out of its Poke Ball.  He knocked on the door.  

The hinges creaked as they opened.  Standing there was a slightly balding butler with a mustache that looked exactly like Hitler's.  His eyes widened.  "Joe?"

Joe cracked a weak grin.  "Hey Heathcliff."

"Well, you'd better get inside before you freeze," Heathcliff said, opening the door wider.  He cast a look at Patrick, Pete, and Andy.  "Your friends as well, I assume?"

"Yes, please," Joe said with a hint of relief in his voice.  "Are Mom and Dad here?"

"No, they're at a luncheon right now," Heathcliff said as the group came inside.  "So you have a little bit of time before the tsunami of parental affection crashes down on you." (It should be noted that Heathcliff said all of that with a straight face and monotone voice.)

"So melodramatic, Heathcliff," Joe said, taking off his coat.  "But true.  Can I just take our stuff up to some of the guest rooms?"

"I'm the butler, I have no opinion that matters," Heathcliff shrugged.  "But go ahead."

Joe smiled and led the group up the spiral staircase.  Now they were walking down a hallway.  Joe pointed to a room.  "That one is my parents' room.  So if you're going to do any illicit activities..."

"Stay away," Pete nodded.

"Right," Joe said.  "That's why Andy is going to be staying down here." By here, Joe meant the room at the end of the hallway, which was as far as humanly possible from Joe's parents’ room.

"Patrick, Pete," Joe pointed to 2 other rooms.  "You guys get rooms with a view." It was true: aside from being ginormous, each room offered a fantastic view of Kairan City.

"Wow," Patrick said.  "Just..wow.  Thanks Joe."

"No problem," Joe smiled.  "This place is free, unlike others."  Drifloon tensed up and looked in the direction of the staircase.  Joe looked over as well.  There were 3 shadows coming up the stairs.  His eyes widened and he seemed to stop breathing for a second.  Andy inched forward and took Joe's hand.  The shadows got closer and Patrick could hear voices:

"It's really him, Heathcliff?"

"Yes ma'am."

"You're positive?"

"I'm your butler, ma'am.  I have no reason to lie to you."

The shadows got closer and closer, until they became people standing in the doorway.  Heathcliff stood in the far left of the doorway.  Standing in the center of the doorway were two people in formal clothing.  Patrick heard Joe's breath catch.  Then Joe was across the room and he and his parents were hugging.  Andy smiled.

"Mom, Dad, these are my friends," Joe stepped back.  "That's Patrick, and Pete, and this -" Joe went over to Andy and took his hand.  " - is my boyfriend Andy."

Joe's mom looked shocked.  Joe's dad seemed to accept this quicker and shook all of their hands.  "It's nice to meet you," he said to each of them.

"You have a boyfriend?" Joe's mom squeaked.

Joe sighed.  "Yes, Mom, I have a boyfriend."

Joe's mom blinked.  "Okay," she said.  Then she smiled at all of them.  "Well, it's nice to meet you guys.  Are you hungry?"

Patrick's stomach chose that precise moment to grumble loudly.  Joe's mom smiled.  "Heathcliff, will you make them something?"

"Yes, ma'am," Heathcliff bowed and led them back down the giant spiral staircase (moving must have been a mega pain in the ass) to the kitchen.  It smelled like an Italian restaurant.  Heathcliff went over to a giant fridge that was so big it looked like it belonged in a Las Vegas casino rather than Joe's house.  "Are there any dietary concerns that I need to be aware of?"

Patrick glanced at Andy to see if he was going to say anything.  Andy didn't look he was going to.  Joe noticed this as well, and he turned to Heathcliff.  "Andy's a vegan," he said.  Andy turned slightly red.  Heathcliff nodded and set about making something.  

"Andy, why weren't you going to say anything?" Joe asked quietly. 

Andy fidgeted.  "I didn't want to be a bother -"

"Andy, you literally get violently sick if you eat anything that isn't vegan," Joe said, clearly exasperated.  "When you accidentally ate that cheesy thing in Metal Town, you were throwing up  _ all day _ .  And then you were so tired from all of your throwing up that you slept all day the next day.  It's literally Heathcliff's job to make sure that you're satisfied.  You could tell him that you only eat things raw and he would make it happen."

"It's true," Heathcliff nodded.  "Japanese cuisine is a wonder."

Joe's mom poked her head in the doorway.  "Hey Joe, can I talk to you for a minute?"

A flicker of unease passed over Joe's face.  "Yeah," he said, reluctantly letting go of Andy's hand.  He followed his mom out into the hallway and closed the door.

"Well, I'm listening," Pete said as he moved over by the door.  Andy hesitated, but he moved over by the door.  Patrick went and stuck his ear by the door.  He could hear Joe's mom murmuring.

"Have you visited your sister yet?"

"No," Joe said tightly.  "We literally just got into Kairan City."

"Well, what are you going to do at the Gym?  Are you going to hide, or not go, or what -"

"Mom!" Joe's voice cracked.  Patrick heard Andy's breath catch.  "I haven't figured that part out yet, but I really don't want to see her."

"What happened between you two?"

"She started being a bitch about me being gay," Joe muttered.  "I couldn't take it anymore, hence me leaving."

"That's why you left?" Joe's mom sounded shocked.  "I could have said something -"

"And then what?" Joe's voice was biting.  "I would have gotten endless shit from Amy about needing you to fight my battles and we would have been back at square fucking one."

"We may not be related by blood, Joe," his mom said quietly.  "But you are just as much my child as Amy, and she doesn't get to treat you badly because you're gay.  Speaking of, when were you going to tell me about Andy?"  Andy stiffened.

"You mean you don't like the surprise?"

"Joe."

"Sorry.  I was going to call you, honestly, but I got distracted, and then Andy started freaking out..." A sigh.  "I hate seeing him freak out."

"Why was he freaking out?"

"Isn't that obvious?  He was about to meet his significant other's family, which would scare the shit out of any straight person, and he has these specific dietary needs that make him a little harder to accommodate for, which is a whole other level of stress....shall I go on?"

"No."

"He just really wants you guys to like him," Patrick could almost see Joe run a hand through his hair.  "He doesn't want to be the reason that I never speak to you guys again."

"Why - oh. Because of Amy."

A pause.

"You can tell Andy that Amy's opinion doesn't rule here.  He is a fine young man and I'm glad that he's your boyfriend."

Pete patted Andy on the back.  "You got the mom's approval, you're good."

Joe opened the door and was almost too slow, because Andy bolted out and hugged both Joe and his mom.  The scene was so emotional that Heathcliff forgot that he was still cooking, burned the food, and had to start over.

...

The next morning, Patrick woke up from a nightmare.  He had been in a dark room, alone.  Issues right there, first of all.  He hated being alone.  Then he was on a table, with some weird faceless lady.  Actually, she was smiling, but it was a scary smile, like a leer.  She wore all black and she was holding a sharp medical tool.  She had been whispering something about not being afraid to scream...

...and then he had woken up.

Pete poked his head in the room.  "You awake?"

"No, just talking in my sleep," Patrick said sarcastically.  Pete grinned.

"Your sarcasm is really coming along," he said.  "There's food downstairs, and then we're going to to the Gym."

"Are Joe and Andy already downstairs?" Patrick sat up and put his glasses on.

Pete shook his head.  "I'm giving them some space," he whispered.  Patrick's eyes widened.  

"No, not like that!" Pete quickly clarified.  "As far as I know, nothing like that happened.  But they just need some time.  Yesterday was emotionally exhausting."

"That's no lie," Patrick agreed.  "I'll be down in a second." Pete grinned and left.

Once Patrick had finished changing, he went down the stairs to find Pete sitting at the table eating a banana.  He chose to overlook that particular irony.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Like the dead," Pete grinned.  "You?"

"Ehhh..." Luckily, Joe and Andy came down at that moment.  Andy was saying something to him.

"I know I don't have to go, Andy," Joe said.  "But I'm not letting you and Patrick go endure Her Royal Bitch by yourselves."

"What about me?" Pete asked.

"You can handle yourself," Joe said. "It's the tiny angels present that I'm worried about."

"I could hold my own!" Patrick protested.

"You can't even trash talk," Pete said.

"I can too!"

"Do it then."

Patrick tried to think of one.  He couldn't.  "Fuck you Pete."

Pete smirked.  It was a victory smirk.

After they all ate, Joe helped them navigate through the still-misty streets of Kairan City.  Even with the mist shrouding the city, it was pretty easy to make their way through to the Gym.  The Gym looked like a castle, fitting in perfectly with the fairytale landscape.  But there was almost an ominous air around the Gym, as though a dark presence was tainting the air.  Patrick thought he might have been letting Joe's nerves mess with him.  But he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

The doors swung open silently, like bats flying.  Inside, the Gym was dimly lit by a few solitary lanterns.  It looked like the room was permanently encased in twilight.  Patrick glanced at Joe.  On the surface, he looked calm, but Patrick had been friends with Joe long enough to know when he was barely holding it together.  He could see the way Joe walked, like he was waiting to be attacked.  In a way, he was.  You had to hand it to Joe.  He was confronting some of his demons just so that Patrick, Pete, and Andy wouldn't have to do it alone.  That took serious guts.  They approached a set or ornately decorated doors, and Joe stopped.  The others did too.

Joe took a deep breath.  "We're doing this."

"If you're ready," Andy squeezed Joe's hand.  "You're the one who has all of the issues with this Gym.  If you don't want to deal with them, we can just leave."

"But in order to play in the League, you have to have a badge from each major city," Joe said.  You could practically taste the emotion in his voice.  "If we don't do it now, we'll have to come back later and do it and I'll run into this problem again.  I just want to get it out of the way now so I can go back to avoiding this place."

After a pause, Pete said, "I'm not usually one for cheesy bonding moments, but I think a group hug would work really well right now.  Agreed?"

"Agreed," Joe said, and the group hugged.

"We're still here for you," Andy said quietly.  "No matter what."

Joe nodded, and pushed open the giant door.  On the other side was a room with a large circle in the middle.  Strange symbols surrounded the outer edge of the circle.  Patrick wondered what they meant.  Suddenly, a breeze brushed against Patrick's face, and he jumped a little.  Then a woman was standing in front of them.  She was tall and thin, with long dark hair.  She wore a flowing black dress that contrasted her pale skin.  But her eyes were the scariest part.  They were almost completely red.  The woman smirked.

"You're back," she said, addressing Joe.  "I thought you said you wouldn’t be caught dead in this hellhole of a city."

"Plans change, Amy," Joe said coolly.  "We need a badge."

"Do you now?" Amy's smirk grew wider.  "That may be an issue."

"Why?" Joe frowned.

"Because Amy's not here," Amy's smirk grew to a Cheshire cat size.  Then her eyes turned bright blue, and her smirk transformed into a look of horror.  "Joe?"

"Amy?" Joe looked hopeful.  "Is it really you?"

"Joe, you need to get out of here now," Amy - the new Amy - ran forward and grabbed Joe's shoulders.  "Go, before he gets you too -"  She dropped Joe's shoulders, clutching her head.  Her eyes were flickering between blue and red.  She started shaking uncontrollably.

"Amy!" Joe started to go to her, but a mysterious force slammed him out of the circle.  The runes outside the circle were glowing bright red.  Amy collapsed in a heap, and a shadow rose out of her body.  It had eyes the same color as the glowing runes.

"It's good to see you again," the shadow said silkily.  It sounded the way Patrick had always imagined Dracula sounding.  "You aged well."

Joe looked severely pissed, and Patrick could truly appreciate Andy's warning.  He really didn't want to be the shadow right then.  "And you're that guy that Amy was always talking about.  The one that was always in her head."

The shadow seemed to smile.  "Correct."

Joe seemed to be getting angrier by the second.  "Then  _ you're  _ the reason that she started to change."

"Actually, no," the shadow corrected.  "Amy didn't change at all.  I was taking over her."

"Why?" Joe demanded, his hands balling into fists. 

"Surely you know, Joe," the shadow said disbelievingly.  "Amy's psychic power was tremendous, hence her rapid rise to fame.  For a demon like me, the offer was too tempting to pass up."

"A demon," Joe said numbly.

"What did you think I was?" the demon asked sarcastically.  "A platypus?"

Joe exhaled.  "Fine.  Great.  My sister was possessed by a demon.  What now?  Can we just get the badge and leave?"

"Oh, Joe," the demon said, almost sadly.  "You and I both know it's not that easy."

Joe seemed to deflate a little bit.

"However, these Gym battles are so  _ boring _ ," the demon said, its voice as smooth as silk.  "It would be so much more fun if something more valuable was on the line than a badge, don't you think?"

"Like what?" Joe's voice was barely audible.

"Your sister's soul is almost gone," the demon whispered, hovering above Amy's body.  "But I have a considerable amount of influence in the shadow realm, and if an exchange were to be offered, I could halt the soul's progress."

Joe locked his jaw.  "What are you suggesting, exactly?"

"I will battle with you," the demon danced excitedly.  "If you win, I leave, your sister's sage, blah blah blah.  But if I win, your sister's soul is gone and I get to take yours.  Deal?"

Andy made a small noise, and when Patrick looked at him, he saw that Andy's eyes were tearing up.  "He's going to do it," he whispered.  "Goddamnit , he's too selfless for his own good."

Joe looked the shadow straight in the eye.  "Deal."

The shadow's burning eyes lit up like it was smiling, and it re-positioned itself.  "Well, don't let it be said that a servant of Hell has no feelings," it said, almost primly.  "You can have some time to say goodbye to your friends."

"Boyfriend," Andy said sharply.

"My apologies, boyfriend," the shadow seemed to bow its head.  Then it sank back into Amy's body.  She groggily sat up and experimentally moved her arms.  Her eyes were once again red.

Joe turned around to face the others, with a sheepish half-smile on his face.  The expression was so quintessentially Joe that Patrick started getting choked up.  He couldn't imagine continuing his journey without Joe.  For God's sake, if Joe lost and essentially died, Patrick would never be able to sit in a tree again.  Ever.  And Joe had been his first friend since the whole Brendon thing.  He couldn't lose Joe like he lost Brendon.

"Joe," he said.  "If you don't win, I will personally murder you."

Joe grinned.  "I wouldn't want anyone except you murdering me, Saint Patrick."

Patrick smiled weakly.  Joe went through the same process with Pete, and then he turned to Andy.  The atmosphere between them was so charged with intensity that Patrick turned around to give them some privacy.  He glanced back and saw the two of them just holding each other.  Then Joe whispered, "If I lose, I want you to kill me, got it?"

Andy nodded.

"I mean it, Andy," Joe whispered harshly.  "Now I know what those shadows do to people, and I...I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I treated you or Patrick or Pete like that.  Okay?"

Andy wiped his eyes.  "I'll be your number one with a bullet." Joe nodded, and they kissed one last time.

Amy/the demon stood up, and she/it gazed regally over the circle.  After a moment, they turned to Joe.  "I'll make this fair," they said.  "We'll do a random matchup." Patrick heard Andy suck in a breath.  They all knew what a random matchup could mean.  

In Gym battles, if a Trainer chose to do a random matchup, they were either very good or suicidal.  Both the Trainer and Gym leader would shuffle their Poke Balls and then, depending on the Trainer with the least amount of Pokemon, would battle with anywhere from 1-3 Pokemon.  You had to have a minimum of 2 Pokemon, because the battle required half the number of Pokemon possessed by the Trainer with the least amount of Pokemon.  So in Joe and Amy's case, they both had 4 Pokemon, and would therefore battle with 2 random Pokemon.  On the bright side, Joe might get his 2 strongest Pokemon and Amy might get her 2 weakest Pokemon, but the reverse could also happen, which would almost certainly result in Joe's death.

"Fair enough," Joe said calmly.  Patrick could see his hands shaking.  A black box materialized in front of Joe, and he placed his 4 Poke Balls inside of it.  The box jiggled around a little, and when it was done, Joe reached inside of it and pulled out 2 Poke Balls.  Another box materialized in front of Amy, who did the same thing.  Now brother and sister stared at each other across the circle.  At some unspoken signal, they both released a Pokemon.  Joe released Drifloon and Amy released Kirlia.

Andy exhaled.  "Thank God.  He has Drifloon."

"Why is that a big deal?" Patrick asked.

"Psychic-types are weak to Ghost-types," Pete said, his eyes locked on the ring.  "But that means that Drifloom has to beat Kirlia and Amy's other Pokemon in order to maintain the type advantage."

While they had been talking, Joe had told Drifloon to use Hex, which was clearly taking a toll on Kirlia.  But then Amy yelled a command, and Kirlia used Psychic, causing Drifloon to tremble and fall a little.  Andy's breath caught.  Joe's look hardened, and he yelled 2 words:

"Shadow Ball!"

Drifloom's attack caught Kirlia off guard and the intensity knocked it out.  Andy breathed a sigh of relief.  "He's halfway there," he whispered.

Amy smiled, but it looked more like a leer.  "You have grown much since your days in Kairan City, little brother," they said.  "But I have grown too.  Kirlia was my weakest.  No matter what Pokemon comes out of this Poke Ball, it will be the last Pokemon that you face as Joe Trohman."

Joe turned white, and Andy looked like he was about to pass out.  Pete's expression hardened.  Patrick was feeling a little dizzy as well.  Drifloon barely survived Kirlia, and that was Amy's weakest Pokemon.  There was no way that it would survive a match with the second Pokemon, meaning that Joe would lose the type advantage.  He would have to hope and pray that Joe's second Pokemon could pull through.  Amy smiled, like this was all a great big game to her, and opened the Poke Ball.  Out popped Kadabra.  A fleeting look of disappointment crossed Amy's face, but it vanished.  A look of relief remained on Joe's, though, and a spark of his old fire returned.

"Thank God," he said.  "It's not Gothitelle or Reuniclus." Drifloon seemed to get a burst of energy as well, but almost instantly, Kadabra had whacked it with the spoon it carried.  The force of the impact was so strong and Drifloon was so weak that it was immediately knocked out.  Everyone on Team Joe cringed, and Andy almost fell over.  He looked apologetically at Patrick.  "Sorry, I forgot how to stand for a second," he whispered.  Patrick's heart melted, and he gave Andy a hug.

"Even if we lose him," he said softly.  "We'll find a way to get him back.  Promise."

"I'll beat up whoever I have to," Pete nodded.  "I learned kung fu back in fifth grade Ryan and accidentally gave him a black eye.  It was awesome."

"I appreciate the effort," Andy took a deep breath and turned back to the battle.  Joe was releasing his second Pokemon.  They all held their breath as the bright light faded.  Standing there was Joe's Poochyena.  Andy let out a frustrated hiss.  "Damn it," he whispered.  Andy was upset because Poochyena was Joe's most temperamental Pokemon.  It was stubborn, did what Joe asked about half of the time, and was an overall asshole the rest of the time.  And if it acted like that now, it could cost Joe the battle and his life.

But Pete was grinning.  "This is good," he said.  "He hasn't lost the type advantage.  He's still in this."

Amy and Kadabra wasted no time in attacking, using a powerful Psybeam.  Surprisingly, Poochyena dodged, and then used Bite, enraging Kadabra.  It lashed out with psychic powers, knocking Poochyena backward.  But, as Poochyena hit the ground, Joe stumbled.  Andy's breath caught.  Patrick looked at Joe more closely.  Was it just him, or was Joe paler than he had been a bit ago?

"Do you wish to surrender now?" Amy asked, her eyes unusually red.  "It would make the soul transfer process so much easier."

Joe staggered to his feet, breathing heavily.  "Go to hell."

"Only if you win," Amy shrugged.  "Kadabra, Psycho Cut!"

Poochyena yelped as Kadabra's attack struck home.  Joe let out a small cry of pain, and Patrick noticed that Andy's fists were clenched so tightly it was miraculous his bones hadn’t broken under the pressure.  He looked like he was trying his hardest not to cry.  That's when the reality of the situation hit Patrick: there was a very real possibility that they could lose Joe today.

And then a miracle happened.

Poochyena lit up like a tiny sun was inside of it, and when the light faded, Poochyena was no longer standing there.  It was its evolved form, Mightyena.  Andy let out a massive sigh of relief.  Amy looked unnerved.  Joe let out an exhausted laugh.

"That's why you were so moody!" he said.  "Now let 'em taste our revenge.  Mightyena, attack!"

It was a bloodbath. Mightyena's Dark-type moves had gained so much strength that Kadabra didn't stand a chance.  As Amy lost the upper hand and Joe started winning, the redness in her eyes started fading.  Her control over Kadabra seemed to be weakening.  Color returned to Joe's face, and his strength returned.  Finally, Mightyena landed the final strike, and Kadabra fainted.  Amy fell down as well, her eyes rolling back in her head.  The demon rose out of her body, somewhat sullenly.

"This is usually the part where I backstab you," it said.  "But I like you, Joe Trohman.  And in certain circles, my approval is the difference between life and death."

"Um, thank you?" Joe said uncertainly. 

"I mean it," the demon said.  "Just this once, I will honor my promise.  I can sense that our paths will be crossing again very soon."  The shadow dissipated.

Patrick barely blinked before Andy had slammed into Joe with the force of a train.  He pulled him so close it was like he was trying to smash them together.

"You asshole!" Patrick heard Andy say.  "Never do that to me again!  Ever!" Then they were making out, and a small squeak was heard from Amy.  The four turned to see her with big, wide, piercing blue eyes.

Pete cleared his throat.  "Hi.  We're all gay as fuck."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to @InfernallyYours for harassing me into figuring out how to actually use rich text
> 
> comments and kudos are loved!!!


	11. Shadows of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING  
> THIS HAS MENTIONS OF PROSTITUTION AND THERE'S A DICK GUY WHO SAYS SOME MEAN THINGS BUT DON'T WORRY I MAKE IT FUNNY TOWARDS THE END!!!
> 
> the triggering stuff will be under an @@@@@@ line!
> 
> if you want to skip the potentially triggering portion, look for the words under the ##### line, that's the only stuff relevant to the plot, the stuff before that is just some backstory stuff!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters in one day??? I must really feel bad about not posting lately. Enjoy!!

 

"So, let me get this straight," Amy giggled.  "The first thing a vegan asked my brother was whether or not he possessed a  _ crab shack?" _

Right now, the boys were having one last lunch with Amy before they left Kairan City.  Ever since Joe had rescued her from the demon, Amy had been making an extra effort to be nice and social with her brother.  Which was completely understandable since she had been such a bitch while under the demon's control, in Patrick's opinion.  And she wasn't such a bad person, either.  Slightly morbid, spouted out more metaphors than Pete, and pale enough to look like she belonged on the set of  _ Twilight _ , but really nice.  Andy really wanted to get to know her, given that she was Joe's sister, and Patrick had no doubt in his mind that Andy was destined to be with Joe.  Right now, Joe was telling Amy about how he and Andy had met.

"Yeah," Andy blushed.  "It's literally the most awkward thing I could have said, but Joe is very...distracting, to say the least."

Joe pouted, and both Amy and Andy giggled.  "Don't be mean, guys."

"It's not mean, it's true," Andy scooted closer to his boyfriend.  "I like being distracted by you."

"Aw, thanks," Joe wrapped his arm around Andy.  "I like being distracted by you too."

The side of Patrick that Pete had wrapped his arm around back in Cyrano Town began tingling.  He took a sideways look at Pete, who was currently tapping his fingers on his leg and glancing at the clock every few seconds.  Pete was really psyched to go to the next city, because it was Cirice City, home of the Dark-type Gym Leader Andy Biersack.  To be honest, Patrick was excited too.  Watching the battle between Maria and Andy a few years ago was what had really inspired him to go on a Pokemon journey.  Admittedly, he had never envisioned it going like this, with Brendon being his rival rather than his partner, but now that it was happening, he wouldn't have it any other way.  He loved being with these guys.  And Brendon?  Yeah, he was sad, but he had come to accept that maybe he and Brendon weren't going to be eternal friends.  There was nothing he could do about that.

"Patrick?" he heard someone asking.  He shook himself out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," he apologized.  "What was the question again?"

"I was just wondering how you became friends with my brother," Amy asked, her eyes sparkling.  "Because as I remember it, he was the most socially awkward person in the history of the world -"

"Okay, Amy, you're done," Joe grinned.  "And I had friends.  You remember Emma, right?"

"Anzai?" Amy smiled.  "Who would forget her and her cute Australian friend, with the adorable name and puppies..."

"They always seemed to be getting sick," Joe laughed.  "The puppies, not Emma and Shimon.  They were cool guys."

"Anyway, I met Joe by falling out of a tree," Patrick said, smiling at Amy.  "I had just had a really bad fight with an old friend, and I was hiding in a tree.  Joe happened along and kindly informed me that I was in his tree.  I fell out of it, accidentally ran into my friend, and then he gave me a motivating pep talk.  Our friendship just kind of happened from there."

"That's awesome," Amy beamed.  "I'm glad that Joe was there for you."

"Well, I know what it's like to have been in Patrick's position," Joe said.  "And he looked like baby animals had just died right in front of him or something.  I wanted to make him feel better."

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Patrick could feel himself blushing.  "You know, I should go call Maria.  I haven't called her in a while."

"Tell her that Pete says hi!" Pete said, actually looking away from the clock for once.  Patrick went outside, as he heard Joe begin to explain to Amy that Maria was in fact Maria  _ Brink,  _ the Gym Leader of Blood City.  He dialed her number.  After a few rings, someone answered.

"Hello?" The voice sounded male.

"Hey, it's Patrick -"

"Who?  Are you kidding me, how many fucking boyfriends does she have?!"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, idiot -"  There was a commotion on the other end, and then Maria began talking.

"Patrick, hi sweetie, give me a second," she said sweetly.  Then she started screaming.  "Don't be such a dick, Patrick's my son, remember?  We're done - no, I don't care, anyone who is a fuckhead to my son is out.  Get out or Charizard will make you."

"Was now a bad time?"

"No, no, not at all - oh my fucking God, I did not invent a son to get rid of you - I'm sorry Patrick, someone was just  _ meddling where he wasn't supposed to, _ " Maria said, and Patrick could hear the venom in her voice.  "How have you been?"

"I thought you said you were done with that stuff," Patrick said, his voice flat.  "You said you weren't going to let anyone treat you like that ever again."

A deep exhale.  "I know, and I'm sorry.  I thought he was different..."

"You say that every time," Patrick said, and goddamnit, he could feel tears in his eyes.  "Maybe you should just tell people that you're a lesbian, then maybe they'll stop."

A choked laugh.  "No, baby, I'm afraid it wouldn't make them stop."

"You have to stop, Maria," Patrick said.  "It's going to destroy you, and that would destroy me."

"Oh, Patrick," Maria was crying now.  "Don't worry, I'll stop this time.  How's your journey going?"

"Well, it's been interesting," Patrick wiped away his own tears.  "Joe kind of defeated Amy Lee and sent her demon back to hell..."

"Wait, what? Amy Lee was  _ possessed?! _ "

And Patrick then explained everything that had happened since then.  Maria was outraged that no one had picked up on the fact that Amy had been possessed, but she was thankful that everyone had made it out alive.  She promised about five more times that she would stop, and Patrick accepted them, but he knew they were empty promises.

Maria said she would stop every time, but she never did.

"Well, I should probably get going," Patrick said.  "We want to try to make it to Cirice City soon."

"Okay," Maria's voice was wobbling again.  "Don't hesitate to call.  I love you."

"Love you too." The line clicked.  Patrick could feel the tears stinging his eyes again.

"Here he is!" Patrick heard Pete say.   _ Shit... _ he wasn't ready to see Pete again.  Not when he was like this.  Pete and his adorable emo haircut popped into Patrick's vision, but his smile faded when he saw Patrick's expression.  "Are you okay?"

Patrick shook his head.

"Is everything okay with Maria?  Did you guys fight?"

Again, Patrick shook his head.

After a pause, Pete asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Yes, Patrick wanted to talk about it  _ so  _ much.  About how when he was younger, and Maria was a less experienced Trainer, and how when she couldn't pay the bills with her job at the Gym getting coffees, she would sell herself to people who were willing to pay.  How every time she did this, he would have a sleepover at Brendon's so that he wouldn't have to listen to it.  He would usually end up spending the next day at Brendon's so that he wouldn't see Maria cry about it.  She hated doing it, but she had a creepy obsession with it as well.  The guys were assholes and treated her like a piece of shit, like she was just an object.  Maybe that's partially why Patrick was so defensive about Gerard's comment back at Andy's.  He felt protective of her, because she never showed the pain and grief to him about it, but he knew it was there.  To him and Brendon and basically everyone in their class, Maria was the nice mom who made cookies for everyone at those cheesy holiday parties they have in elementary school.  But there were people out there, people who would only see Maria as their sex metal Barbie, their dirty pretty, their sexual hallucination.  And Patrick hated that with every fiber of his being.

But he didn't say any of that to Pete.

Instead, he just shook his head again.

Slowly, Pete nodded.  "Well, we're leaving, so we can make it tonight."

"Bet you're excited about that," Patrick smirked.

"Shut up," Pete turned a little pink. 

##########################################################################################

After saying goodbye to Amy, they set off towards the route to Cirice City. However, they had only been walking for about 10 minutes when they heard people arguing loudly.

"Goddammit Frank, I don't want all of us to stay separate forever because of this -"

"Well, clearly, Mikey needs space right now.  Who wouldn't, especially since Ray dropped that nuclear bomb -"

"But we can't split because of this, we just  _ can't. _   I don't want to leave Mikey, but I'm not going without you, and you'll probably go with Ray because of the guitar thing, and I can't make that choice, I just  _ can't do it,  _ Frank!"

The four walked into the middle of an argument between Gerard Way and Frank Iero.  However, both looked extremely agitated, and not because they were in between make out sessions.  Mikey was nowhere to be seen, and Patrick saw Pete droop a little.  That hurt.

"What's going on -"

Joe had barely finished his question when Gerard was frantically babbling.

"Ray decided to tell all of us today not only that he's gay but that he likes  _ Mikey  _ I mean Mikey of all people but you know the heart is a fickle thing but Mikey freaked out and we're not entirely sure why hell I'm not even sure if he's gay or not but now we might be splitting up and I can't choose between Frank and Mikey and Ray and goddamn it this is all so confusing and I hate it -"

"Gerard," Frank put his hand on Gerard's shoulder.  "Breathe Just breathe nice and slow."

"I can't breathe, the fate of our group is at stake!" Gerard looked panicked, and there were no discos to be found.  "How can we be Team Mikey Frank Claudia Ray if we all split up?"

"I don't know," Frank said honestly.  "But we're not going to figure it out if you panic like this.  Just breathe."

At that moment, Ray walked in.  The first thing that Patrick saw was an afro, a bigger afro than Joe's.  Other than that, he looked like a teddy bear. Or maybe a human cinnamon roll....

"Hey guys," Ray said uncomfortably.  "I take it Gerard's already told you -"

"More like babbled it incoherently," Frank muttered.

"That's cool that you told -" Andy started, but then Pete angrily cut in.

"You  _ will not  _ take Mikey away," he snarled.  "That's  _ my  _ job."

"You don't get to just claim Mikey!" Ray protested.  "That's not how any of this works!"

"Do you want to fight me, Toro?" Pete demanded.  "Because I will fight you about this."

"Are you sure?" Ray asked, a glimmer of battle in his eyes. "Because you  _ will  _ regret that, Wentz."

"How do we all know each other's last names?" Joe asked.

"Doesn't matter!" Ray and Pete said at the same time.

"Are we just going to let them do this?" Patrick asked the others.

"Well, I think Pete is very much like a longhorn sheep," Joe said.  "He just needs to fight someone to get his excess domination shit genes out."

"That could also be said about teenagers," Andy said.

Gerard shuddered.  "They scare the living shit out of me.  I'm glad that I'm not one."  No one bothered to correct him.

Meanwhile, both Pete and Ray had released a Pokemon.  Woobat was currently hissing angrily at Ray's Granbull, and Granbull was attempting to attack Woobat, but it wasn't working because Woobat kept flying out of reach and then sticking its tongue out at Granbull.  It really was Pete's Pokemon alright.  Ray and Pete weren't helping the situation any.  Both were goading each other and the Pokemon on, and Patrick felt like this was spiraling quickly out of control.

"What the hell is going on!?"

Everyone turned to face the speaker of the voice.  It was none other than the disputed Mikey Way, with a horrified look on his face.

Both Pete and Ray started talking at the exact same time.

"This idiot seems to think -"

"There's no way in hell that -"

"Both of you just shut up," Mikey glared at both of them.  They closed their mouths in stunned silence.  Mikey took a deep breath and looked at Ray.  "I came back to tell you that I can't date you."

Ray's expression was comparable to a kid learning that Santa Claus wasn't real.  Pete pumped a victory fist.

"I can't date you either," Mikey told Pete.  Pete froze mid-pump, and his look soured.

"Well, why the hell not?" he demanded.

Mikey took another deep breath.  "Because I'm already dating someone else."

Everyone looked shocked.  Mikey looked towards the trees, where a hooded figure walked out.  He lowered his hood and grabbed Mikey's hand all in one fluid motion.  A collective gasp echoed around the group, because the hooded figure was none other than Mitch Lucker.

"I  _ called  _ it!" Andy fist bumped Joe.  "It couldn't be a coincidence that Mitch always happened to be around Mikey -"

"MIKEY WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT TELL ME YOU WERE DATING SOMEONE???????" Gerard yelled. "I AM YOUR BROTHER DO I NOT DESERVE TO KNOW THESE THINGS -"

"Exactly, you're not Mom," Mikey squeezed Mitch's hand.  "And I didn't want to make our relationship public yet -"

"WELL....as long as you're happy, I'm glad," Gerard gave his brother a hug. Pete and Ray both looked shattered.  Pete walked out, rubbing his face.  Ray just kind of fell down.  "But I don't think that they are."

"That was unexpected," Frank said.

"Let's eat muffins!" Andy said cheerfully.  So they did.

**Author's Note:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'M NOT SORRY
> 
> I'll post more when I edit it so it's better, but expect a lot more Poke Boy, fam <3
> 
> Kudos and comments slay me, so continue to murder me with them pleeeeease!


End file.
